Rewind: Trail Riding in Spain

My husband finally decided to tackle sorting through his years of junk e-mail and stumbled on pure gold. 

A fellow trail rider took a few photos of our group in Barcelona while riding in Montserrat and actually also remembered to send them to us. They aren't the best quality, but they capture a very special time and moment for us. It was a beginner level ride but I got paired up with a super cute chestnut Arab mare named Mariposa which made it more fun for me. 

It was so nice to look back and remember what an amazing time we had on our honeymoon almost SEVEN years ago! Our life looks very different now, but not any less amazing.

Fall Trail Exploring

Having Quest closer to home has definitely been a welcome change. For the first time in years, I don't feel guilty when taking my time at the barn. Being able to spend a few extra minutes grooming and scratching mareface in her favorite itchy spots before tacking up for our rides has been so nice. Those little moments are definitely things that I missed about spending time with my horse. 

With each ride, we have been exploring more of our new home and mapped out a lot of trails made by the state this year. They have afforded us lovely fall views and some visual diversity. 

Someone randomly decided to plant some corn...

Fortunately the trails have also been entirely devoid of hunters, despite being entirely within the WMA. T had mentioned that though hunting is allowed in the area , the animals have moved a miles away where ample resources were better found and I'd have to agree- so far, we have run into just small songbirds and one dead deer carcass which probably died from old age. 

Always wearing our safety orange tack and vest.

We also did some road riding on our third adventure to check out a powerline trail that T told me about. While we did reach our goal, the terrain was thick with brush and rocky - I couldn't risk injury to either of us so I took a few photos to memorialize our powerline adventure and turned home for better footing. 

Also riding on the road was a little gnarly when the occasional driver chose to be dumb and reckless. Thankfully Quest was an absolute saint and we stayed safe the whole time. She's just so good <3 

Photo Friday: Foxcatcher LD

Trail Bound

This past weekend Quest and I enjoyed a lovely reunion with the trails we left behind nearly 4 years ago. My husband had a virtual meeting in the morning and was wonderful enough to watch Caleb while I got some sorely needed, undivided barn time. 

For readers with eagle eyes, the bridle and rein setup probably looks quite familiar. Earlier last year, my good friend Nicole was looking to part with some tack she was no longer using. Coincidentally at the time, I had been keeping an eye out for a tack set for my husband. I reached out to Nicole and she gave me not only the tack but also an Orthoflex saddle that her husband had used. I nearly cried happy tears at her incredible generosity towards my family. 

Sadly due to the timing of my pregnancy, hopping on Quest to try out the saddle and tack had to wait a few months longer. The wait was SO hard. I had heard tons of good things about how comfortable Orthoflex saddles are and was impatient to see what the rage was all about. I did have my husband help bring the saddle out to the barn shortly after it arrived so that I could get everything fitted and sized for Quest. 

This past weekend, I finally had the opportunity to get the full setup together and hop aboard. Before we hit the trails though, I wanted to see how Quest fared with the new tack in an arena/somewhat contained space. It had been raining on and off all morning so the small indoor was feeling pretty crowded with a lesson that the BO was doing with a student and a boarder who was riding bareback. Despite the buzz of activity around her, mareface did fine- we did a few laps of walk and trot with no issues at all. The rain was starting to let up just when another boarder showed up to use the indoor, so I decided that it was time for us to head on out. 

Quest was all business from the moment I pointed her towards the pasture path that led to the trail head, asking me to let her trot. The less than ideal weather kept most of the normal trail users at home so as soon as we hit the trails, I let her open up and we flew along at all gaits, unhindered the entire time. True to all the things said about it, the Orthoflex was amazing. It felt secure and we had no issues with slipping. I definitely could feel the rust coming off both of us as I got back to using old riding muscles, remembering to change trot diagonals and cuing for canter on both leads. 

Gliding along the open trails, I was able to take my first deep breaths in what felt like forever. We ended up doing about 4 miles in less than an hour and mareface felt game for more. I really missed her, riding, just everything about this lifestyle so much.

Honeymooning with Horses

I've been SO busy for the past few weeks that keeping up with blogging has been a challenge in it of itself. A lot of riding and horsetime has been happening though!

About a month ago, I spent 10 days in Europe for my honeymoon and it was absolutely fantastic. W and I put together the whole trip ourselves so everything about our experience was 110% what we wanted which made it a lot more fun. As you all know, I've made it my personal goal to ride in every new place I visit and this trip was no exception. Fortunately W is completely supportive of this endeavor and we managed to fit in two rides during the 10-days.

Our first ride was in Mallocra, Spain. When I had contacted the barn months ago to make a reservation, the replies I received were in very stilted English. True enough when we got picked up at our hotel on the morning of the ride, the driver Tony (who also happened to be the barn/business owner) spoke only Spanish. Despite the language hurdle, we all managed to get along just fine.

W had taken some Spanish in high school so he was able to somewhat communicate with Tony better than I could. Fortunately for me, horseback riding is pretty universal so I just did what I normally did and we pantomimed and used context clues for the details. After outfitting us with coats for the impending rain, Tony handed us halters and led us to the pasture to meet our mounts for the morning.

I was paired up with Piropo, a cute dark bay 15 year old Andalusian x Hanoverian gelding. He had an amiable personality and I knew we were going to get along well. After saying our hellos, we led the horses to the stalls to groom and tack up. I was left to my own devices while Tony helped out W.

After a quick tack check, we headed out to the yard to mount up. I  immediately knew I definitely liked Pipiro- he was quick, eager, though never felt dangerous. As we headed out to the trails, Tony continued to coach W as I helped by translating through context. W was a good learner and we were able to get in quick trots and even a couple galloping sets during the 2-hour ride. The fact that it was just the two of us made it a million times better since everything was customized to how game we were for speed and pacing. Tony was wonderful enough to trust me to take point along the ride and Pipro was a professional the entire time.

Leading a few parts along the trail-
it was rugged yet beautiful landscape

Riding along an agricultural field.
There were rocks everywhere all the time.

Our second horseback riding stop was several days later the outskirts of Barcelona, Spain. W and I booked a excursion-style tour for this one for the ease of traveling out to the countryside without dealing with public transportation. The group included several beginners and the tour was advertised as a walk-only ride, which was perfectly fine by me since the views were absolutely breathtaking and I needed every moment to soak up the majesty of the mountain vistas.

As we pulled up to the barn, I couldn't help but eye the horses and immediately mentally picked out a chestnut mare that I was nearly 100% sure was an Arabian of some sort. To my immense delight, I was paired up with the mare- cute 6yo chestnut Arab named Mariposa, which means "butterfly" in Spanish.

Cute mare and some views of the "serrated" mountains in the background.

Once the group got matched up with their mounts, we set off in an orderly, sedate line and enjoyed a wonderful 1-hour long meandering ride in the Spanish countryside with gorgeous views from the base of Montserrat. Later in the day we would take the cable car down after visiting the abbey that was built into the mountainside. It was a beautiful day for riding.

The rest of the honeymoon before, after, and in between were unforgettable as well. Though the fact that we managed to fit in two trail rides in different countries made me incredibly happy and as always, so very grateful that W had a smile the entire time. Traveling to a new place is fun, but adventures are definitely a million times better when enjoying views from between two ears!

Little Things

Another year, another birthday trail ride. Had an incredible day yesterday doing the things I love with the people (and horse) I love. 

I’m so blessed <3 

First Time For Everything

It took five years but it finally happened...I had my first real "oops, rider overboard" fall off of Quest. We're both fine and but it was like ugh whyyyy, especially given how it happened but I guess it was about time. I was probably way overdue for a first riding fall lol

Fellow trail rider J had texted me earlier in the week about doing a long group trail ride out to the deli and I immediately signed on. Quest and I ride alone so much that more exposure to riding in a group is always welcome- any opportunity to train the marebrain is a resounding yes in my book. W and I organized a large group of our friends (it ended up being about 20 people!) to go apple picking later in the afternoon though so I gave J a heads up that I'd be keeping a strict eye on the time and Quest and I would turn around for home solo when we needed to.

W came out to the barn with me and was kind enough to help continue working on the trailer while I got to enjoy riding my horse in daylight. I gave him instructions on what to do for the day, a thank you kiss in appreciation, and trundled off across the farm to fetch my horse from her pasture and tack up.

The farrier had come out the day before so thankfully I was working with a very fresh trim when putting on the boots. The front shoes were nice for their ease of use and Quest does okay in them but I could tell she was never 100% happy in them as she was in boots. So off the shoes came and we're back to barefoot all around.

During my trip to CA, I learned from the endurance rider I rode with to use duct tape to reinforce the velcro straps that die out way faster than the boot treads themselves. Using the tape, the Gloves stayed on perfectly for our entire w/t/c ride over all the diverse terrain we have here.

After tacking up, we met up with our trail ride group. We have ridden out with J and her little POA mare Lucy a few times and our girls get along very well. Unfortunately Quest had issue with K and her gelding, a sturdy chestnut mustang named Tonka. K was kind enough to give us room when I mentioned that Quest had angry marefaces at her horse whenever Tonka drifted too close. We  made sure to keep them apart and everyone did fine after that.

We set off at a good walking pace with Lucy and Quest trading the lead. In previous group outings, I noticed that Quest has a tendency to tune me out and go with whatever the other horses are doing which is not always a good thing. So this ride I made a point to not fall asleep at the wheel and to keep mareface actively engaged and checked in with me by having her move her feet exactly where I wanted her to go.

Things were going really well and we were making excellent time on the trail trotting areas where we could and walking where the footing got too gnarly to move out. Lucy took the lead on the single track areas and Quest was definitely game to move out but still listened to me politely. As much as I would have loved to continue on with the ride, the time was drawing closer for Quest and me to turn back for home.

Being familiar with the area, I knew that the route would open up to the roadway after the last section of trail we were on and the plan was for us to use the trail split as the turn around point. Just one more section and we would part ways for home.

It had been awhile since Quest and I had done a long ride so there were a ton of new obstacles along the trail such as downed trees and brush all which we navigated successfully earlier in the ride and have done so before. So when we came across yet another fallen tree, it should have been no big deal. The trunk was quite wide but it was traverse-able. J and Lucy, who both love to jump, cleared it with no problems. Quest and I do not regularly jump nor did I have any desire to attempt any heroics on the trail so I had Quest to settle into a calm walk to quietly step over it.

Instead she paused and with a massive lurch, heaved herself bodily over the trunk.

We made it over, but I was completely taken by surprise and ate dirt, landing on my side and back. I somehow manged to hold onto the reins though. To her credit, Quest immediately stopped and stood still, waiting for me to get back to my feet. Quick check: Quest was fine, I was fine- thankfully I had landed in the dirt and leaves next to the trail, somehow avoiding the rocks, and nothing was out of place.

After reassuring J and K that I was okay, I mounted back up and we headed down the trail together for a moment until I realized that we had to double back for my FitBit which had fallen off. After recovering it exactly where we thought it had landed, it was definitely time for Quest and me to head home to the barn. K offered to ride with me to make sure I got back okay but I thanked her and sent them off, not wanting to ruin their ride plans that day.

To my immense surprise, Quest didn't scream or worry a single moment on our solo ride back home, if anything she relaxed more and was completely compliant to every request I made. We walked, we trotted, we cantered in beautiful autumn weather- enjoying our time together.

Stopped by the trailer to say hi to W and told him what happened.
Poor husband got so concerned...I felt bad for worrying him ):

The trailer is coming along nicely though.
Quest seems to approve too, happy with her snack break.

Despite the tumble, I was thankful that I wasn't badly hurt and Quest was no worse for the wear. I was pretty sore later that evening and the day afterwards but that's pretty much the extent of it. One of my friends is a PA and she regularly asks me how Quest is doing, I saw her the day afterwards while grabbing a group lunch together and she reassured my husband (who was still fretting) that I was fine/she would have had no idea what had happened if I had not finally told her.

Things happen, sometimes all we can do is get right back into the saddle and ride on.

Tenacious

The road to achieving any dream worth having is never easy.

With things finally settling down into an even-ish keel and routine, I have been brainstorming how to tackle distance goals with Quest. W has been entirely supportive of me riding, hauling out, doing events so no worries on that front.....but we also needed to be mindful not to break our budget especially since we got something called bills to pay. Yay for married adult life and homeownership.

First order of business is fixing up the old stock trailer and ensuring it was roadworthy and horse-safe. It was a little junky when I first got it which sort of put me off from immediately hauling out but it was still fine for stationary stuff like self-loading practice. Two years later, the trailer is now in desperate need of a facelift so W and I have been spending time during the weekends at the barn working on sanding out the trouble rust spots, treating them, and painting. It's coming along decently and though looks a bit redneck in some places, it will be thoroughly protected from the elements with a fresh coat of paint and may last us just a bit longer until I can save up for something newer and better.

I searched around for trailer shops to get quotes and timeline for scheduling an appointment and found a place that wasn't too far away which is good (low mileage = lower truck rental cost). The technician I spoke with was very professional and courteous however they have a 2 to 4 WEEK backlog queue. Ugh.

I put myself on the list for the time being but this definitely threw a huge wrench in plans to haul out this month or anytime soon and unfortunately, we're back to square one....No trailer, no hauling. It's frustrating being grounded like this but as we have done for the past 5 years, we will make the best of the situation no matter what.

That face <3

Quest and I have been enjoying our evening rides together. We hit the trails first to enjoy some of the quickly fading sunlight then headed in to the indoor arena for some sustained trotting/cantering and dusted off the cobwebs for basic dressage stuff. Mareface was definitely a bit rusty in the latter (and so was I) but we ended on a good note.

I admit I was definitely a bit distracted during the arena ride- my mind was busy trying to think of what options were left to try. Despite the setbacks, I haven't given up quite yet but it's been hard staying positive.

Finding a New Normal

It's been almost two months since the whirlwind of life changes and all has been well so far.

As things have settled down, I've been carving out more time for the barn so Quest and I have been getting in more rides together! We were super lucky with a recent break in the late summer heat and got some gorgeous weather perfect for brisk trail miles with lots of trotting and hill climbs.

Our experiment with regular front shoes is going okay so far and Quest is eating up the gravel roads with gusto. However while mareface is still sound, I can tell and feel that she is a bit tenderfooted after the rockiest rides. Our trails at home aren't easy and while they offer the typical trail scenarios which are great for conditioning for NE-coast endurance, it definitely requires horses be properly outfitted with appropriate footwear for trail riding.

While doing hoofcare, I've noticed Quest's soles have been a bit softer than normal and Farrier D has been noting the same thing. Given the muddy areas in the lower pasture paddock around the hay/feed area, I'm not all that surprised and pretty annoyed that drainage hasn't been improved yet. Ugh.

So the new game plan is to pick up some Durasole the next time I make the long trek to the tack store (the closest one is 40-50 mins away) and we will be switching back to hoof boots so Quest gets some extra protection on the gnarly terrain while we toughen up the front soles. I know that one possibility is to pad the shoes if we really wanted to keep using shoes but that doesn't solve the underlying issue of softer soles. So we're going back to the basics before we complicate things and plus, I don't mind using hoofboots since they actually fit Quest pretty decently.

That aside, mareface is doing excellent and we celebrated our 5th gotcha day earlier last week! I can't believe its already been five years together. Things have panned out much more differently than how I originally had hoped but such is a life that naturally takes interesting turns and twists.

Everything is (hopefully) baby steps in the forward direction though. Right now, I'm slowly gathering supplies for the trailer and making a checklist to prep us for our first haul out to some training trails. I've also picked out some parks that allow horse camping to eventually expose Quest to overnighting in a low stress environment. It might take us 5x as long and we may have to work 20x harder but we'll get on the endurance trails one day. As along as we keep stubborn and stay positive, we will get there.

By the way if folks are curious to what our trails look like, Gonehikin recently did an excellent trail write-up on our neck of the woods. It gives a great overview of the type of terrain that Quest and I get to slog over during our normal trail rides. You might recognize some familiar scenery too!

Hitched and Happy Trails

W and I got married last Sunday! Despite the family drama and emotions in the weeks leading up to the event, our big day went perfectly.

Not surprisingly, I had the ambitious idea to tackle all the flower decorations (garland, bouquets, corsages,etc...) by myself + Team Bride and I'm so proud to report back that WE DID IT. Everything came together beautifully in the end and the venue looked absolutely stunning.

We also got so very lucky with the weather- despite the forecasts, it was blue skies and sunny the entire day and we were able to have our ceremony outdoors and our guests got to enjoy cocktail hour and the reception in all the open spaces. Everyone enjoyed themselves immensely, the food was amazing, and the company even better.

The next day, W and I drove north for our short minimoon at an all-inclusive nature resort in NY. We spoiled ourselves with delicious food every meal and spent the hours in between hiking, lake kayaking, stand-up paddleboarding, tomahawk throwing, pool lounging and even did some trail riding!  I got to try a ton of new things including my first ever rock scramble.

Looking back, we're definitely both relieved that the wedding event itself is over but during the entire process, especially now in hindsight, W and I were reminded of just how incredibly blessed we were to have talented, loyal friends along every step of the way who whole-heartedly and gladly celebrated our union with us.

The days after have been the slow gradual return to real life (going back to work, ugh lol), finish setting up our little home, and finding a new normal which includes barn time! This past weekend I was finally able to snag a ride with the mareface and it was SO nice.

As always, Quest went from sitting in a pasture for a month to back to trail riding with quiet ease and zero fuss. We hit up a trail that we had not done in awhile and got some lovely lake views along the way. Mareface was definitely excited for an adventure though and was raring to go on the way home. That being the case, we finished up our trail ride with a quick but effective indoor arena session reviewing dressage basics and fundamentals to brush off the cobwebs. Afterwards Quest got a nice bath and her treats.

What a week! A lot of changes but I'm looking forward to what the future holds (: 

Been Awhile

Hi and hello from TeamQuest- we're still here and all doing well.

The past few months have been nothing short of sheer insanity but things turned out well...the angst, worry, and crazy stress I've been enduring during all this time since paid off and I have yet another big life-related piece of news to share with everyone: As of a month ago, I became a homeowner! It was a huge project but W and I finally closed on the house after a very tedious multi month-long ordeal.

The process occupied much of my time and free moments in between work and life but it was worth every bit of effort.

As for the mareface, Quest did great through winter this year and held her weight excellently. The barn staff have been good about keeping in touch with me from time to time and it is assuring to know that she is still thriving with the 24/7 pasture life-style.

After Mel moved back to the old barn, I worried that Quest would work herself up to a frenzy from being alone but....nope. Despite being completely by her lonesome for about 2-3 weeks, mareface was completely okay with it and handled the change with no issues at all.

Quest's new pasture friend is now a pretty chestnut TB mare named Penny who came back to OF after a few years away. Back in the day when I used to work with Rori, I had ridden in a hunt pace with Penny and her owner, H. It was good to see a familiar face back at the barn again. The two girls get along well and I'm glad that Quest shares pasture just as well with a mare as she does with a gelding. Her being so versatile in terms of buddy options is definitely good to know.

With the weather finally turning for the better and the increasing daylight, we have been doing as many long trail rides as we can fit in. Quest has been nothing short of amazing and has stayed entirely sound.

Inevitably, I have been feeling the pull to do endurance and compete again but still being limited without a proper tow vehicle. However this may soon change, I hope? I've also been giving thought to trying out mounted orienteering which may be a good medium for Quest and me to try out if we don't have the time nowadays to properly train for endurance. Or we can just go with our endurance plan but just take our time and turtle every ride lol At this point, I'm simply hoping to start our journey and don't even care about accolades- I just want happy and sound for every moment of our adventure together.

Hello 2019

Wow, I can't quite believe we're already halfway into January. But yes...happy belated New Year everyone! I hope you had a great end to 2018 and a wonderful start to 2019 so far.

Quest and I are doing well though there have been some big changes at the barn recently. Last weekend, A moved Mel back to the Dust Bowl barn. There were a lot of things that factored into the decision but bottom line A was never quite happy at OF. Also our barn schedules didn't coordinate for us to do as many rides together as we had hoped so Quest and I were solo 90% of the time. Oh well. 

With Mel now gone, Quest has been without a pasture mate for the past few days while the barn staff figure out a new arrangement. Hopefully whoever they decide to place with her will be a compatible fit with little to no drama so fingers crossed!

Asides from that, Quest and I have been getting in some good solid rides. The weather has now become bitterly cold so we've been doing pretty much all bareback rides both on the trails and in the arena. Gotta make use of the fuzzy butt heater lol

Trail stuff is very limited and we only go out in certain conditions though due to the melting snow or rainfall that freezes right into ice, making the roads EXTREMELY dangerous. In fact, I had to emergency dismount once a few weeks ago when Quest took misstep and started slipping on a hidden patch of ice. She didn't go down and I hopped away quickly to safety. We came out of it totally fine but that was a reminder to exercise more caution.

That being said, the indoor arena has been our usual fare so far this winter and fortunately, it is not all that bad. My goal this season has been collection and better seat communication. We have been chipping at it slowly at our own pace doing simple dressage stuff and fundamentals. Quest is getting the gist of it and looking pretty good for our efforts I daresay.

The undersaddle work has seem to transfer to a better relationship out of saddle as well or for whatever reason Quest has been surprisingly more snuggly with me. When I fetch her from pasture, she often leans her head against my arm and just breathes me in. In the arena, she follows me around while I toddle back and forth with a laden manure fork cleaning up after her. It's also good to see that she's maintaining her weight too. The whole lack of pasture-mate thing might set us back due to her running around and worrying but I hope that will be resolved quickly.

As for riding/event plans for 2019, things are VERY much in the air at the moment due to all the big life things that will be taking place this year. W and I are in the throes of wedding planning and also just restarted our efforts in looking for a home together. We'll also be attending 3 of our friends' weddings before ours in July and have several trips to do all before summer happens. Things are chaotic lol but it'll be fun.

Its in the crazy moments that I fully realize how lucky I am for Quest being as steady and constant as she is. While mareface does have her Arabian moments, being able to just swing up for a quick, no fuss bareback ride on the trails or arena when I need to get away from life is a immeasurable gift of relief and solace itself.

The Moments In Between

Hi and hello from Team Mareface! Quest and I are doing well and have been enjoying the quickly fading daylight and frigid evening temperatures. Not.

But really, we have been getting in some great rides despite all that! Earlier this month, I celebrated a milestone birthday and took a couple days off to indulge and self-care. I managed to fit in two trail rides that week and did a long ride out to Hawk Watch.

The trails were really busy as we had several days of rain and the weather finally cleared up for everyone to come out of the woodwork. We had several leashed dogs lunge at us but Quest was totally fine and just moved along.

Autumn held on for quite sometime this year but we finally got our first snow earlier this week. It caused a huge headache and rather dangerous conditions for the homeward commute (my usual 7-minute drive turned into a 2-hour ordeal), however I didn't get into any accidents and am incredibly grateful for that.

The snow stuck around for Quest and me to enjoy it, safely, on the weekend though. I tacked Quest up in the bareback pad and we started in the indoor first before headed out onto the snow-laden trails. Despite the cold, it was a lovely day to be out and riding bareback kept me nice and warm.

Mareface was fantastic and still seems to enjoy being out and about in the snow which is great news for me. I love snow rides so much.

Things like this definitively reassure me that taking this year off to mentally and physically rest was the right choice. Simply being able to enjoy time together has done good things for us and our relationship. The changes aren't super noticeable to most, but for me they speak volumes.

I miss distance riding to be sure and we'll get back to work when life allows. But for now, we're both happy and that's what matters the most.

Gotcha Day (belated!)

Last week was Quest's Gotcha Day! Four years since I saw a certain mareface at auction and took a leap of faith. Everything has changed for the better since then <3

With summer drawing to a close, we've been getting some decent breaks in the weather and humidity to get in trail time. Quest continues to do well (sound!) and our solo outings have been a nice escape from the constant insanity that has been my daily existence.

The level of busy isn't a bad thing though. I have some big life and horse-related happenings in the works and I'm very excited for what changes the next stage will bring.

All in all, things are good with us and for that I'm truly grateful and blessed. Taking a season off just to enjoy being with Quest and taking care of myself was really good and so very needed. But it's time to start getting back to work...because maybe, just maybe, endurance will finally be a part of our lives soon.

Ever Stronger

Life has been busy busy busy- nothing new there. Work has been keeping me on the road a lot (and giving me a ton of airline mileage lol) but whenever I do find myself back at home, I always make time for a ride. 

To her credit, Quest has been SO good despite the haphazard and sporadic ride schedule. It marvels me to no end that we can get right back to it regardless of the many days, sometimes nearly a week, going by between the last ride and now. Mareface still has her sassy moments obviously but those have been very few and far in between. Most of the time it's simple as tacking up, hopping on, and deciding what trail to explore together. 

Our rides have been 100% solo still (Mel is working through some feet issues and other folks at the barn are hard to coordinate with) but that's fine. Quest is very much okay with being by herself and eats up the trail happily. 

 

Last weekend I took L, one of the high school girls I mentor, out to the barn to meet and ride Quest. This was something we had planned since last year but due to circumstances (L tragically lost her brother in December and a few months later in May her dad also passed away), we didn't make it out to the barn until this weekend. 

We got an early start to escape the heat and had a great morning at the barn. L was eager to learn and help. After giving her a quick run-through of basic horse care and horse sense, I handed L a brush and she helped groom Quest while I tacked up. 

We headed to the indoor arena and I hopped on Quest first. Since I had been out of town all last week, it was a good mental check (and one that I normally do whenever I have guest riders) but  mareface was completely fine from the start. She was on her absolute best behavior and did so well for L the entire time. It was starting to get really warm in the indoor when we finished the riding lesson so we cooled off with a quick loop walk on the trails before heading back to untack, bathe, and stuff Quest with treats. After the barn, I treated L to lunch and we got ice cream for dessert before I dropped her off at home. L had a great time and it was just so good to see her smiling again. 

There's no denying that horses can do things for people that other humans can't though. In fact, I began riding because I needed something, anything to get me out of the mental state I was in. Even now, I go to the barn on a bad day and just spending time with Quest-the things that burdened me somehow seem to go away, even for a moment and that's sometimes all the reminder I need to make it through another day.  

Those reasons and more are why I realize how truly blessed that I resolved to learn how to ride and followed my gut instinct that day in August four years ago when I bought a certain mare sight unseen at a feedlot auction. I'm grateful that I can share Quest and my love of riding with those who otherwise would have not ever had the chance. Horse ownership is not without its challenges but this is one of the many reasons why I do what I do. 

Hello Summer

Quest turned 14 this past weekend! Unfortunately we haven't been able to properly celebrate yet since I had to attend and help friends at their wedding but you rest assured the mareface will indeed get her traditional horse birthday cake ;) I wouldn't be so cruel to deprive her of those moments of joy in life.

Thanks to the longer summer daylight hours, we've been getting a good number of weekday evening trail rides in. Quest has been so delightfully steady and sane that I've been doing about 50% of those rides bareback. The benefits are plenty from riding without a saddle too.  It doesn't take much time at all to get her groomed and tacked up so we make the most of our time and whenever I find myself getting lazy while riding, nothing cures that instantly like a bareback trail ride. No lack of core, poor posture, or being lazy with your seat here haha

With summer in full swing, my weekends have been filled with too many things to do but on those days that are blissfully unspoken for, I have set aside for longer trail rides. The main goal for those outings has been having a safe, fun time while getting in some quick, cardio-filled miles. It satisfies our need for speed and it makes me so happy to see mareface charge up those hill climbs easily with happy ears up and forward.

Best of all, Quest has been sound sound sound.

Since we aren't actively training for any major events, I've decided to keep mareface barefoot for as long as possible and am watching her feet (especially that pesky clubfoot) like a hawk. The farrier I'm currently using has been amazing with communication. He calls/texts me schedule availability and has even sent me mid-trim pictures of Quest. It's super wonderful and I'm satisfied with his work so far. Most of our trail outings are done barefoot but for rocky rides like the climbs at Hawk Watch, I boot her fronts and that setup has been working out well.

As for events, I had fully intended to do a number of off-site trail adventures and fun hunt paces but with gas prices being such a travesty lately and my truck cost-sharing partner being in bad financial shape, it doesn't feel like a prudent adult decision at the moment. Endurance is still in the books for us, though probably not as soon as I had hoped...but know what? That's fine. The sport will still be around when Quest and I are ready.

Right now, we're just enjoying our time together and that's totally okay :)

As of Late

I think the weather has finally decided that it'll stick with spring. Work business trips and friend weddings have kept me from enjoying the nicer weather lately but Quest and I have gotten in some solid rides still.

A few weeks ago, we did a fantastic 8.5 mile morning solo meander to Hawk Watch one weekend. It was 80 degrees(!) and our trails were unusually crowded with hikers, dog walkers, mountain bikers out enjoying a brief respite from the cold. Despite the high foot and road traffic, mareface handled herself quite well and somehow kept it together when two guys on dirt bikes suddenly came up behind us with engines revving at full tilt :/

We've also explored our rail trails again and worked on hill canter sets when the footing allows. Quest still does her jig-dance from time to time but I've figured out how to deal with that for the most part and she comes back down to earth after a few moments realizing her antics are way too much work than it's worth.

On the art front, I decided to finally upgrade my decade-old, secondhand art tablet and took on few art commission projects to celebrate the new purchase. One of my friends on FB asked me to do a portrait of her thoroughbred mare- I was quite happy to have such a pretty subject to work with!

Hopefully my work travel schedule settles down so Quest and I can get more consistent trail time together. Gotta work to take care of the mare and me though- we'll enjoy each day and each ride as it comes.