Trials and Tribulations

Went out the barn yesterday because today was forcasted to be bitterly cold (it is). It was a typical winter day so I thought Joker would be fine.  He lunged fine before tacking up and then while trying to ride down the driveway he started acting up again. Nothing like last weekend, Thank God!! I didn't want to push my luck so we went back to the arena for lunging with tack on and he did find.  I had a scary dismount before the tacked up lunge so I didn't get back on but chose to untack and go for a walk down the driveway with him.  He was fine.  Not sure if something is off in his back or his hooves hurt because of the ice.  I'm at a loss but I felt good where we left things.  Needless to say I'm still frustrated because I really want to go for a nice ride but I'll do what it takes to help my friend at this point. Another .37 miles on the books.

My ride calendar is already starting to take off too. I'm getting super excited for spring! So far my first planned ride is April 16th at Kensington Park with the DD crew.  I really hope everything works out and I can make it the ride and to our celebratory dinner.  I worry about my "kid" spending time at a foreign place but you never know until you try it. I'll really just have to pay attention to the weather and see what happens once April gets here.  One of my best friends is getting married that month too so I gotta make sure I have all of that planned in there. The next ride after that is May 21st for the WHAM Judged Trail Ride at Silver Creek!  I can't wait for this one! I had so much fun last year even if it is where I hurt my knee. I'm looking forward to doing some work with Joker on obstacles again and even see if we can teach him some new tricks.  It's looking like a very HORSEY YEAR already!! Joker and I have a lot of dates to go on :D 

First Miles

Woo-hoo! Got some miles on the board for 2016 already! I'm super excited for this year if you can't tell :D

January 3rd
1.53 miles (logged)
Rode around the snowy and ice covered arena for a bit with Kalei and Corrine. We had to get the arena churned up a bit for Matt who has on special shoes with plates. He was practically ice skating out there. Joker was a  plow with no problems walking through the ice and snow. It was a rather enjoyable day for a January ride with lots of sun. Joker and I went over to the cornfield across the street for a little bit and we ended up working on Joker's barn sourness. It only comes out once in awhile but every time it does we work through it.

January 9th
.22 miles (logged)
I decided to take advantage of the warmer weather and go see my horse. Little did I know that he had been replaced with a crazy horse and we only got in a .2 mile ride before he thought bucking and rearing were a good option. I did not fall off but rather got him calmed down and then got off myself. I'm not sure if this spookiness came from the fog or just it being warmer out. We took a short walk on foot up the road before turning for home. We did some lounging when we got back and I'm pretty sure my 19 year old quarter horse was now a 4 year old with his antics. I made sure we ended with a calmer horse that was listening to me but it sure was an interesting day at the barn I tell ya :D

Happy Riding!

2015 Year in Review

2015 Year Mileage- 70.75 miles

Wow! 2015 has come to a close and I can’t believe how fast it went. It was a year of lots of ups and one huge down.  I rode every weekend in January, only 2 in February due to a blizzard and below freezing temps, March I was back to every weekend. April brought my first trail ride of the year at Yankee Springs. Joker was great as always. I was really excited for May and our judged trail ride at Silver Creek. I didn’t practice anything with Joker and just wanted to see what he would do.  He was great! He did every obstacle accept 2. That day I fell off my mounting block and tore my ACL, LCL and meniscus in my left knee. It took me out for 2 months.  I had surgery on June 24^th and exactly six weeks after surgery I was cleared to ride again. I will never forget that ride.  It was short but so wonderful! It took away all the frustration and pain. It helped my depression and was the best therapy a girl could ask for.  I never knew how much I needed my horse or how much he needed me until my two months off.  I board my horse and while on crutches it was so much work to get out the barn but hearing that whinny and seeing Joker’s excitement to see me swelled my heart and solidified our partnership. After some time of easy riding, I hit the trail again in October and never looked back. Joker and I logged 38.42 miles from August 12^th till the end of the year. My favorite ride had to be going to Kensington Park and meeting up with lots of other DD teams.  We rode over 7 miles that day which was the longest trail ride we had ever done. I think the river was Joker’s favorite part because he got to splash around! I can truly say that after 2015 I know that Joker is my best friend and we have a solid partnership that is going to carry us into 2016.