Trailventure Time!

Last Saturday, Pangea and I were set to go on our first ever roading adventure with the local hunt. She swam on Friday, and I spent some time that afternoon trying to organize and clean my stuff - after all, this was going to be our first time out in public doing something where we needed to look respectable! Unfortunately for us, the weather did not cooperate, and the hunt called off the Saturday road in anticipation of high temperatures (110-115F). I didn't complain, seeing as I had to cut my Friday prep time very short due to being followed home by this!!



I swear we got chased home by a tornado. Swear it.


On Saturday, with no obvious place that I had to be anymore, I decided that I was going to make good use of the cool early morning weather (and by cool, I mean it was still in the mid 80's at 7am) and trailered Pangea out to Benbrook Lake for some early morning conditioning. Thank you to all my cats and dogs who made this possible... my furry little alarm clocks became very alarmed when I wasn't up by 6:45am, and all started jumping on me and/or crying hysterically in an effort to make sure I wasn't dead and/or going to forget about their breakfast. Every time I rolled over and groaned, any inch of me that wasn't covered by blankets was either licked maniacally or pounced on by ferocious kitten claws. I think this is a good sign that you have had too few days off lately.

At the head of the trail, we crossed paths with a total stranger, a 70 year-old man named John on a Missouri Foxtrotter. We both happened to be heading the same way with the same idea in mind - ride before the death heat sets in - so we marched off together. John complained repeatedly about never having anyone to ride with because all of his friends at the boarding stable take too long to get their horses ready, so I think he was happy to have a friend!



John's boarding stable is right down the road from the state park where we were riding, so he knew all the ins and outs of the trails in the area. We even took a few little sidepaths that led us off into lands unknown, making weird little discoveries like this dead cur dog behind someone's house:




I thought it was a coyote at first, but closer inspection of the skull says no. It was literally right on the other side of someone's tightly fenced property and huge manicured lawn - an intruder who was shot perhaps? No idea, but it seems a very unusual place to just drop dead of your own accord. My guess is that it died elsewhere and was dragged here, for one reason or another.

We also, erm... snuck down to the water's edge. Pretty sure we were not supposed to be there, but we did it anyway!





My intrepid guide dismounted first and gingerly checked the beach footing before we proceeded out there. Apparently he's had some quicksand issues before... or something.

We spent some time relaxing in the shade afterwards before we parted ways and I headed back to the trailer. I tested out the gears before we were through - w/t/c all felt great - and then called it a day. It was a balmy 100 degrees by 10:30am.


The longer I have this mare, the more of her father I see in her. I had a request awhile back to do a comparison between the two of them, and I will definitely have to make good on that soon!

Butt dapples, ho!

And by that I mean, "butt dapples off the starboard bow!" And not, "your butt dapples make you look like a tramp!"

I am happy to report that with multiple bathings, UV spray, and some serious elbow grease, Pangea's butt dapples still do exist underneath it all:



It will take a little while (and some new hair growth) to see whether the UV spray is actually helping or not, but here's hoping!

Hackventures

Having Pangea is a very interesting lesson in how to just relax and enjoy going for a ride. I get into a mindset where I feel like I should do dressage or should do conditioning because she needs this muscle here or that stamina there, when in reality there is nothing I need to actually be doing at all that I don't want to. If I feel like going on a walk trail ride, then hell, I'm going on a walk trail ride. I do miss the rigorous schedule that comes with conditioning and training a show horse, but admittedly it is nice to just get on and do whatever I want to do.



Donkey girl... look at those EARS!


Also, my boots.



Broken zipper yet again... someday I'll have nice things. I can't really justify going out and spending a zillion dollars on a new pair of nice tall boots when I'm not showing right now, so I make do for now with vetwrap and eternal trips to the cobbler.


The weather has been beautiful - sunny and in the mid-90's, which is downright chilly here for this time of year. Perfect for hackventures! So long as we can avoid the storms, of course:



They were east of us so we were safe.


Random beautiful back road I discovered... there was a Paso breeding farm across the street from where I was riding, and they all came gaiting up to the fenceline when we went by. Bless her heart, her eyes got a little round but she didn't do anything else except continue to just stroll along.




Look at the SUNFLOWERS! Boy they are getting tall.





Oh and PS, remember the horrible tail that has been half ripped out and matted with dreadlocks every day despite my meticulous care? After many, many washings I seem to have revived it a bit:



Nothing short of a miracle, I can tell you that!!

Shreddin'

When we last left off from the sunbleaching story, I had put Gogo's old Saratoga flysheet on Pangea as an experiment in the war against the bleach. It has been a *tiny* bit cooler here, and I figured it was worth a shot - maybe it would keep the worst of the UV rays away. Pangea had other ideas about this, and it didn't take very long for her to decide that enough was enough.

Gogo wore this sheet for YEARS without issue. Pangea wore it for two days.



Yep... pretty much destroyed! Shredded all down the back in multiple places. Check out the half-ruined flymask as well. I'm going to have to break out my needle and thread for that one... I'm not particularly handy, so maybe I'll just do it with baling twine. She's going to destroy it either way!

Oh mares....



PS Mimi is back home and doing very well! We never did find out what was wrong with her, but a heavy dose of antibiotics seems to have knocked the worst of it out and she is steadily improving every day. I thought for sure we were going to lose her... what a relief to have her home!