Arrived at the Clinic

 

The drive down to Foothills Equestrian for the Centered Riding clinic went really well this morning. I left the house at about 9:30 so I missed rush hour traffic through Greensboro.  Seven lanes of traffic going each direction is a challenge, made even more so when hauling a large trailer!  My copilot mostly slept on the drive, Rizzo had full faith that I’d get us wherever we were going.

Once we arrived and got unloaded and parked, Rizzo made friends with 3 dogs and got into an argument with the 4th...  but since Rizzo's on a leash I think it will be ok. All the other dogs are loose, but so are all the elderly cats and I don't need her to chase or pounce on someone else's cats.  

Highboy settled right in like he comes here every weekend.  He has two full water buckets in his stall but has been reaching over his door trying to reach the water spigot to turn that on for a beverage.  Hazards of having a tall horse with a long neck who likes to play in the water.

In the evening I put Rizzo in her crate in the trailer and took Highboy for an easy ride.  We cruised around the covered arena at the walk, trot, and canter, which was a little challenging because he is a very large horse and it’s a relatively small arena. After the riding lesson in the outdoor arena ended we moseyed up the little hill to hack around there.  They had a few small jumps set up from the lessons, and Highboy fairly dragged me to them in his glee at being presented with his favorite activity. We popped over each of them, with only minimal shenanigans.  He mostly jumped in a civilized manner but did party a little over one of the brush fences to entertain the spectators. When the next riding lesson horses came in we wrapped it up and got out of their hair so they would have the arena. It occurred to me that due to a conglomerate of reasons, we haven’t jumped together since last October, a full year ago. It felt like we’d just done it last weekend, a real testament to how well Highboy and I fit each other.

I wore my yellow shirt and used one of my favorite yellow saddle pads, which got us several compliments!  Of course Highboy was sporting his yellow Chameleon Browbands jewelry to match.  When I was here back in July I had given one of the other riders a Chameleon Browbands business card, and she had bought a browband and jewelry online. It is such fun to share the matchy matchy guilty pleasure with a new friend!

Fall Arrives

I've been out of town with my husband for two weeks celebrating our 20th anniversary - and when we got back we discovered fall had arrived at the ranch!  Highboy and I went for a ride this  morning and checked out the red leaves and rode the new trails I worked on earlier this week behind the house.

 

Evening Animals

This evening Blu was helping me again. He was also mousing in the tall grass and quietly stalking the 50+ geese that have descended upon the ranch this week.  I gave him some scratches and pats for his efforts and he began drooling, even blowing a large bubble I managed to get a picture of!

I paused this video and counted more than 75 geese in the pond!

Dewey was eating his mash with his usual contemplative expression this evening, this horse really loves to eat and nap.

 

Art Show

I recently found out and I’m super excited to announce that I have two pieces accepted into the MacCallum More Museum and Gardens juried art exhibit in Chase City, VA!  There is an opening reception Sunday, September 18, 3-5 and exhibit runs through the end of October.  Big thank you to the judge, Alexis Shockley, and to Diana Thorpe for organizing!

Rides this Week

Daisy got out to hack around the property this week.

Rizzo and Pascal cooled down after the ride by lying in the puddles along the edge of the driveway. Muddy dogs are happy dogs!

Dewey also got to go for a ride. We started in the arena and he was wound up so I lunged him first.  He expressed his excitement with his traditional 4 minutes of ya-hoo, then settled right down.  I’m still waiting on a second set of hands to help me get the last section of arena fence put back in place, so Note came into the arena through the opening while Dewey and I were riding. It wasn’t a big deal, he mostly just walked around following us, but he makes Dewey a little apprehensive.  With good reason, as Note can be a bully in the pasture. Once he realized I was aboard and some rules applied Note was pretty good.

Later Dewey and I went for a walk with the dogs.  

 

Pea Rides with a New Friend

My new friend Kathy came by to ride this morning with her quarter horse gelding.  Miss Pea and I had fun on our ride around the trails with them.  Looking forward to a longer ride with them at Staunton River State Park soon as it’s starting to get cooler here now.

Red Leaves

Highboy and I found some leaves changing color- this tree is turning red!  Most of the place is still bright green and looks like summer, but this I think is the first hint of fall.