This and That

I've had a great May so far!  Went camping with a couple of my "girls" for a quick weekend.  Went to McCulley's on Saturday and came back home Sunday afternoon.   It rained ALL day on Saturday, but we had a blast hanging out in the barn, chatting and then riding our horses bareback in between showers.

Gotta love my sexy get up, huh?

Cathy and her big boy Busta

Shelly said to heck with riding bareback and she took pictures of us playing around instead,  

Stylin and I having fun cantering around the barn area.

Staying out of the rain and solving the world's problems

The rain finally quit late Saturday night and we woke up to a cool, perfect day.  We got a good 4 hour ride in along some of our favorite trails.

 Shelly on Willie, Cathy on Busta

 Stylin stepped out the whole ride

 Along the pink trail

This bridge on SR 6 is pretty scary for some of our horses when the big semi trucks go overhead !

Last weekend for Mother's Day, my daughter and I went hiking at Goldhead State Park with our dogs, then hit a great little farmers market in her town and had lunch at her place.  It was a perfect day except for the dang red bug (chigger) bites that I got.  

Her pup Teak is growing every day

I'm a Grandma ! :-)

She's a beautiful, smart, mean little green eyed girl!

Her name is Teak.

Video of first time swimming.... duck dog in training.

KD's Day Off

I've come to really appreciate a good vacation day.  Started off this morning with an early morning vet call for spring shots and then spent an hour shooting the breeze with him.

Got a little housework done, then picked up a round bale for the girls.  I use a Hay Hut to protect the round bale and try to keep them from wasting so much hay.  It's a little unwieldy for me to tip over by myself, but I can still do it.

My two little hens are laying well again and I found a dozen eggs in the soft bed of hay pieces left in the Hay Hut.

After sifting thru the hay for the eggs, I rolled the new bale out of my truck bed and with much grunting, tipped the  Hay Hut back over the new bale of hay.  Then I noticed that I forgot to cut the twine off the dang bale, so had to reach through the windows to get that done...didn't want to flip the hut again.  The horses still pull hay out of the windows and stomp on it, but much less is wasted than with a traditional hay ring.

Next in line was to meet my daughter to go check out a wedding venue at one of our favorite places to ride...Diamond D Ranch.  Jenny and I used to rent horses there when she was just a little kid, and during her teen years she worked there as a Summer Horse Camp Counselor.  The Griffin family has always treated her  as part of the Ranch "family".  They've built a wedding pavilion that is really lovely and we are considering it for Jenny's wedding this year.  Here's what it looks like at night.....you can go as casual or as fancy dancy as you like.

A quick sandwich from a local Subway, then Jenny and I went to pick up her new Lab puppy.  Jenny has been involved with the pups since they were born  - the bitch belongs to a good friend of hers and the male is a proven working duck dog from GA.  My new grand pup is soooo cute and smart too!  Now she has to get a name to suit her.

After saying good bye to Jen and the pup, I headed home to feed the crew and relax for a while.

This is Dixie, my 26 year old Appy that gets prettier every year.

Stylin had to work for her alfalfa cube treat and performed for the camera.  I was a little close and it was a little hard to fit her in the frame while I asked her to lie down, but we got it.

What an awesome day !   

New Photo

While I was at McCulley Farms Spring Withlacoochie Trail Ride, their in house photographer, Yvette Palmer took this nice picture of me and Style.

Riders4Helmets - Courtney King-Dye

I've been following Courtney's blog off and on since her traumatic brain injury 3 years ago.  I started wearing a helmet every ride over 9 years ago.  Courtney's horse just tripped while she was working in an arena.

Below is her video for the Riders4Helmets symposium.  Here's her blog if you are interested in following this brave woman's struggle with rehabilitation and riding again.   Ckd Dressage

Looking Back on the Cracker Trail

Warning up front......  lots of pictures follow.

I've been back from the Florida Cracker Trail Ride for 3 weeks now and am taking the time to post some great memories.  The ride was a little less stressful for me this time because I knew what to expect having been once before in 2011.  I had a wonderful group of ladies riding and camping with me and it was an adventure that I'll never forget.  Starting outside of Bradenton, FL and ending up in Ft. Pierce 7 days and 120 miles later is a fantastic way to recreate and honor Florida's history.  To share it with my daughter, Jenny and my friends Cathy, Michelle and Christina made it more special.  Another friend, Marilyn, who has done this ride each year since 2005, was there as well sheparding a newbie to the Cracker Trail.  My pony, Stylin, was awesome!  She carried my big ole butt everyday without complaint and finished up looking and feeling great.  The week started bone chilling cold in the high 20's and ended up in the mid 80's.  I had to pack plenty of clothes for me and Stylin.  I clipped her 2 weeks before the ride because it usually runs pretty warm this time of year.  Started the week with her medium weight blanket, switched to her canvas sheet and she ended up naked at the end of the week.  Her short coat made it much easier to keep her groomed and comfortable during the day.  I did practice my whip cracking skills and can now crack two 8 foot whips at the same time.  :-)

The photos following are in no particular order...........   :-)

 Chilly breakfast at Bar Crescent S Ranch

 Stylin loves to scrub her butt in the sand and play in the water

 Christina and Jenny at Ft Pierce

 Frosty morning window

 Bundled up with hot coffee- Christina, Cathy, Me and Muleman

Me, Cathy and Christina cooling off later in week

Parading for the kids at Cracker Trail Elementary 

 Cathy and Jenny at the school

 Yummy dinner

 Gathering at Hickory Hammock State Park

 Jenny, Lumir and Jen-O at Ft Pierce

 Jenny tries out a real Cracker Horse

 Jenny cracks her whip for the kids

 Marilyn and Elizabeth on their pretty mules

 Jenny and Maybe in shallow lake

 Donald and his mini mule Luna - they led the ride

 The kids loved the mini mule

 Michelle, Christina, Cathy, Me and Jenny

 Riding the historic Cracker Trail

 Mr. Bill hitches a ride with Busta and Cathy....Oh No !

 Through the fragrant orange groves

 Parked the horses to have lunch in Ft Pierce

 Parked at local accomodating bar

 Mobile porta potties followed us

 Road riding

 Ranch riding

Jenny, Michelle and Christina warm their hand

More road riding - Elizabeth on left, me on right 

Working the crowd in Ft Pierce after the parade- Michelle and Stylin's son Ranger next to us

Stylin is a good ambassador!

Stylin and Ranger get ready for the parade through Ft Pierce

Video showing Jenny and Christina cracking their whips in the parade

This one shows me, Michelle and Cathy ...you can hear us whooping.  :-)

And this last one is of me and Michelle messing with the whips at camp.... the sound is much louder and similar to a 22 gun shot in person.         HAPPY TRAILS