Solo Ride

YAY!! I loaded Stylin up on Saturday and we went to Sal Taylor Creek Preserve by ourselves! I had a good talk with myself and realized there is no reason to be afraid to ride alone. I know the trails, I had a phone and best of all I had Stylin. We wound up having a great 2 hour ride exploring some offshoot trails that were mostly in the shade. I had to laugh at myself when we came up on 4 different deer - I'm usually chatting with my riding buddies and miss a lot of the wildlife. :) I had her booted up so there would be no problem if we came across any slag that the State seems fond of putting on the trails, I had my helmet on and Stylin was happy in her homemade bosal. We trotted and cantered quiet a bit and even had a deer running parallel to us about 30 feet away in the woods. Seeing her bounding along with that white flag in the air made me smile. With the hot weather here to stay, I may be doing some more early Saturday morning solo rides since a couple of my riding buddies don't ride during the hot summer.

Memorial Day Weekend

We joined my sister Robbin and her family for a great weekend getaway camping trip at Goldhead State Park...... Without the horses. :) We did what you do when you camp.....sit around and visit, eat, hike the trails, eat, drink a little, eat, tell stories, eat....... you get the picture. The weather was great; it got a little hot in the late afternoon, but the mornings and evenings were perfect. The only downside to the weekend was the creepy little ticks that we had to keep picking off. The trails were well maintained, shaded and not too long for us out of shape campers.

Bobby and I were the only ones in the park camping in a horse trailer - we did get a couple of looks, but no one asked any questions. It worked for us - the A/C felt great for a couple mid day naps. We shared evening meal duties and my daughter Jenny brought us fresh grouper for our Sunday meal. YUM! Here are a bunch of photos that Robbin and I took during the weekend.

Women of Faith

I spent Friday evening and all day Saturday at the Women of Faith conference held at our arena in Jacksonville. This was the first time the conference had come to Jacksonville and they are already planning on returning in 2009. 66 women from our church attended as a group that my sister, Robbin organized. It was my first time at a WOF event and I had a blast! I laughed, I cried, I sang, I danced, I hugged my "sisters" but most of all I came away feeling even closer to and more loved by my Lord. The speakers were very funny and inspiring and the singers were phenomenal.

This and That

The girls have been enjoying an hour on the backyard grass each evening. Even though we don't have a "pasture", the backyard is about 3/4 of an acre which allows them to have some green. If we don't get some regular rain soon, the yard is going to dry to a crisp though.


Ta-Dah ! Here's the finished chicken coop - Bobby did an awesome job !



Now here's a picture of a glad that popped up - I just thought it was pretty in the evening sun.

Fun in the Sun

I went camping with my friends Cathy and Traci at Doe Lake from Monday afternoon to Thursday morning. Cathy and I had to come home, but Traci is staying through the weekend. We all had a blast playing in the lake with our ponies and riding through the woods to a small neighborhood to get homemade blueberry ice cream. Here's a link to more pictures....and here's a link to my camp journal.

Giddy Up Cowgirl !!

Well, my good buddy Traci went and got herself a tattoo Friday night. Boy... when she made up her mind, nothing was gonna stop her! YEE-HAW !!!

On to another type of giddy-up.... I joined some friends for a Happy Trails Horse Club ride at Diamond D Ranch. We rode from the powerlines down to the little church and back for a 2-1/2 hour ride. The trails were pretty dusty but there were no bugs - the sun was out and there was a nice little breeze on our way back when the temperature had climbed. I used the bosal I made for Stylin from an old roper tie down noseband and she worked really well in it. I've found recently that she prefers to go without a bit...she's behaved perfectly in a rope halter and now this easy going bosal. Who woulda thunk it? :)

Chicken Coop and Horse Poop

Bobby started working on a chicken coop today for the new hens that Jenny got us. It'll be a nice little condo for the girls when he's through. While he was working on the coop, I was mucking stalls and spreading poop. The grass is coming up nicely in the back yard now, between the little bit of rain we've been getting along with the poop and grass seed we sowed about a month ago. I also cleaned and disinfected the horse trailer with Simple Green (after being shamed into it by my friend Cathy). Those little flower things (or whatever they are) are still falling from the oak trees and staining everything so I'm going to wait until they're done to clean the outside of the trailer. We came inside after lunch to clean up, take a nap and wait for the big storm to come through.




I went riding with Cathy yesterday....she took the day off for her birthday and we had a nice relaxed ride at Sal Taylor Creek Preserve. When we stopped at the creek, I was teasing Cathy about Busta and how she has to stay on his butt to keep him from rolling in the water..... and to my great surprise....Stylin dropped and proceeded to take her a cool water roll WITH me and the new saddle I was trying out. Luckily - we both liked the saddle, because she made it a final sale by getting it completely soaked! Of course she picked the deepest part, but I was able to step off in the thigh high water and didn't get completely wet. Needless to say - Cathy got a big chuckle out of that!