Endurance is such a tough sport in multiple ways, but also utterly fulfilling…as long as your equine partner is willing. Limited distance rides are fun, a good training ground, and can be hard in their own ways…but you don’t quite know the answer until you hit 50 miles or more. Does your horse like endurance? […]
Now that I’m home and showered, time for my favorite thing: a trip report! The short version: a magical and relaxing time in the mountains with a good friend. More below the photo dump! We were planning to go to Whitefish horse camp, father south, as I was hungry for those epic mountain views and […]
Despite diesel prices refusing to drop below $6 per gallon, I managed to sneak in two trips over the past few weeks. I ate Lunchables, cut out logs, had some discussions with Tarma, and learned a few things. I will state here, once again, I adore my trailer and I’m this close to having it […]
For years I’ve had to endure various endurance friend’s descriptions and stories of the mystical Bandit Springs ride, in the Ochoco Mountains outside Prineville. It’s never been in the cards for me, but I made it happen this year through a combination of friendship and sheer willful optimism. Last weekend a friend and I explored […]
In the series of books I’m named for (The God Stalker Chronicles, by PC Hodgell), a major plot point is something called “the soulscape”. This is a weird dimension the reflects an individual’s soul, such as a garden, a walled keep, something that sits at the deepest level of the character’s psyche, and the race […]
At long last, I was able to join the wonderful group of folks my trainer gathers around for the last horse camping trip of the season, for me at least, probably. I was the last rig out of Sheep Springs today! There were highlights and campfires and lessons learned, things I need to tweak, though […]
First off, my mantra for the weekend was “Thank you Sarah”, as this trip wouldn’t have been possible without her along. She was also totally game for hopping on a horse she’d never met before for a five mile trail ride, just so I wouldn’t have to ride out alone in a brand new spot. […]
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 […]
Sometimes the universe tosses signs your way that say clearly “Do not do the thing.” Sometimes you gotta give the universe the middle finger, do some slightly sketchy electrical work, and do the thing anyway. Despite several Gremlins and a momentary defeat, a friend and I managed to load up my trailer and her husband’s […]
My friends and I rode together again this weekend, twice, after the ponies received their monthly pedicure. We also mock camped in my friends yard, as it’s been over a year since we camped together and it’s always nice to just in up to the house when you forget something. On the way to our […]