One in the saddle, one on the ground
I took a chance on the weather again and won, again. I’ve noticed that Tarma is much more agreeable if she’s had some turnout before I ride, which means I don’t have to be an early bird. This is fine by me, though something we’ll have to deal with for both the John Wayne ride […]
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Why do the wildest things sometimes happen with no witnesses? And no video to prove it? Welp, today’s ride was a tad wilder than I hoped for, but both Tarma and I survived together, somehow. My main goal for the day was just miles, in whatever fashion Tarma was up for. She let me walk […]
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Well, last week was clearly false spring number one and we’re back to winter. I can tell real spring is around the corner though. Instead of long days of dripping, endless rain and a lack of sun, the weather is wilder, raining sideways, dumping one moment and clear skies the next. I switched Tarma’s midweight […]
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Cadence is my word of the year, inspired by a song I haven’t listened to in a decade. Harder Better Faster Stronger, by Daft Punk. It has a super long intro, and we did a dance routine at a summer camp I was a counselor at one summer. I was always too quick to the […]
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As I sat in my truck, waiting for the big diesel engine to warm up enough to haul to the barn, I hmmed and haaad and made a decision. I balanced the training and time I’ve spent with Tarma over the past year, how she’s been on our past few rides, and Benny’s training level […]
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Each time I head out to the pasture with my halter, I keep two ideas in mind; either we do whatever it is I’m planning, or we don’t and we try something else. Tarma tells me even before I put her halter on what she’s capable and willing to handle that day. It’s probably too […]
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Quite a few things went just right today, though I still made two big mistakes. I had a limited amount of time today before my parents holiday party, so I saved myself some time by leaving the trailer hooked up and loaded. All I needed to do was grab the mare, hose her legs down […]
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I started to write this while sitting at a truckstop waiting for my best friend caravan down to the Oregon Horse Center with me. For the first time ever we will have almost matching trailers, which differ only in the details. In the span of three years of actually owning horses I’ve gone from a […]
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Benny is now six months old, halfway to a year, and it’s been a year since the Very Best Dog slipped away from us. Benny is a delight every day, and forming him into his own Very Good Dog is by turns exciting and fun, frustrating and puzzling. We’re getting to see a different aspect […]
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On some days Tarma is sweet and smart and relatively chill, riding out on the buckle and easy. Today she had a different feeling, so my friend called her Tarmageddon and it fits. Even when she’s at her worst, just not checked in or throwing shade, it never feels dangerous, just a different shade of […]
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On the loose 