I’m writing this particular dispatch from my new reclining camp chair (snapped up from Costco), three quarters of the way through a can of 14 Hands wine. Tarma slurps her dinner in her corral next to me, and my belly is full of my friend’s excellent Shepard’s pie. The puppy is sleeping in the kennel in the back of the trailer and the kid is settled in his bed, probably on his Switch (although he did play with a new friend and his puppy for several hours).

Today was weird but we made it here safely. Sarah, Kade and I got everything loaded, double checked truck and trailer, pulled out if my friend’s neighborhood onto the busy road…and immediately threw on my hazards and stopped. A neighbor’s horse was loose in the road, impatient, uncaring drivers stacked up on both sides. Sarah jumped out, grabbed my rope halter and carrots from the trailer, and had him in hand in minutes…minutes that one lady in a minivan just couldn’t hold for, squeezing by me while Sarah was still trying to catch him, despite me waving her down. He’s home safe, no harm done but to my stress levels.

Thanks to traffic and the delays, Tarma spent almost five hours in the trailer, the longest I know of. I had the corral panels loaded in the front stall so she had to travel in the back, facing forward, but she handled it like an old champ. She just set herself and shoved her face full of alfalfa the whole way. I went slow and steady and my truck did awesome, delivering us safely up to 4000 feet and over the mountains.

Tarma seriously shines on adventures. I walked her out a bit, following a friend marking trail for tomorrow’s event, and she didn’t even care when they went right and we went left. What did bother her was turning around too soon. She had that eagle look in her eye, gazing down the trail. She was here to explore and eat up trail, and we were turning back after less than a mile? Weak sauce, Jame!

She was also cool as a cucumber in the busy arena at the ranch after dinner. I took her there to see if she wanted to roll, but there was a mini clinic with five horses and one horse lunging and being a bit bratty. She just stood in the corner, watching with one leg resting, licking and swallowing occasionally. She didn’t roll but I don’t blame her, too busy, but she wasn’t upset about it.

Tomorrow she will hang in the corral mostly, while I try my hand at judging. Later in the afternoon we’ll try our hooves at some obstacles and ride out a bit, like she prefers.

Life is good, right here, right now, and that’s enough.