On the loose

One in the saddle, one on the ground

WeAreOnTheLoose

  • On The Road

    Last week my family piled into Kethry, my well loved F150, and put an additional 3200 miles on her tires in 10 days. Depending on where you are at risk wise, this was either wildly inappropriate, somewhat questionable or perfectly fine. There were a few times, particularly at crowded visitor’s centers, when I questioned how… Read more

  • Leaning moments

    We almost didn’t leave today, and I’m having the same struggles as usual lately about it. I let Tarma roll and let out some spiciness in the ring (I now know she can really get her butt in the air!). I hope it helped, but as soon as she saw the trailer hooked up and… Read more

  • A puzzle

    I didn’t have a busy agenda tonight for my visit to the barn…but Tarma wasn’t hip to it at all. I had hoped to do another short bareback ride, but Tarma chose to take a nap instead of dealing with me and the mounting block. I’ve noticed that, like the trailer, it’s not her favorite… Read more

  • Running: The Long Road Back

    I completed my first run/walk since I was pregnant, and I’m only mildly exhausted. I can’t recall when my last run was because last time I was using the Garman watch and app and I lost my login, ooops. Now I’m using my Apple Watch, which is much easier and I can text from it… Read more

  • Seize the afternoon

    After spending Monday in a slump due to a long day fixing a big mistake at work, I craved the sunshine that was taunting me outside my window. I took a chance on work not exploding for three hours and dashed out to the barn to hook up the trailer. I tried not to have… Read more

  • Different Days

    Tarma and I had a solid weekend together, each day with a different flavor. On Saturday my best friends and I stopped by the barn, just to feed and do her feet (clean out and spray with Listerine, helps keep thrush at bay). Tarma loves to roll in the arena, so we hung out when… Read more

  • A winner

    Today was a good day. I won a gift certificate for Trafelgar Square Books from the Backyard Horse Blog (thank you so much!) I promptly ordered three ebooks, “Know Better Do Better”, by Denny Emerson; “What Horses Really Want”, by Lynn Acton; and “Distant Skies”, by Melissa Chapman. I also ordered a hard copy of… Read more

  • Solid steps

    Today gave me a glimmer of hope that I can convince Tarma the trailer isn’t all bad. This was mostly thanks to my barn owner, who turns out is something of a whiz with trailer loading. Within about 15 minutes she and I had Tarma pretty much loading up with no pressure, although she was… Read more

  • Work To Do

    I was supposed to be writing a mostly triumphant post today. My plan was to haul to McIver and try our newly booted hooves at our first out and about trail ride together. Maybe a few bobbles, some lessons learned, but I was optimistic…overly, as it turned out. Remember when I mentioned building that partnership… Read more

  • Tarma’s First Adventure

    I took a chance on the weather today and I am so glad that I did. We loaded Tarma up and went to our favorite nearby state park, Milo McIver. There are a series of obstacles built by the North Valley chapter of Oregon Equestrian Trails, of which yours truly is somehow currently the VP… Read more