The reason I always ask “what am I doing that isn’t right” when Tarma’s not responding the way I’ve come to expect it’s cause it’s pretty much always a me problem. Yesterday was a good example. Tarma actually came up to me in the pasture instead of waiting for me to hike out to her, […]
Why Endurance? Now that I have publicly stated my intention to attempt a 50 mile ride with Tarma this season, a first for both of us, it’s a good time to question why. Why isn’t exploring trails and moseying enough? What drives me to try to prove ourselves in such a sport? Last year I […]
There are days when I’m on top of everything, I have a good handle on the life stuff. Work out, eat mostly ok, get the kid out the door and the dog happy, do my work, take care of my horse, listen to my son’s day, share some funny TikToks with my husband. Then there’s […]
Some rides I can’t wait to get home after taking care of Tarma, shower and share the photos for all my friends to see. Other rides never get shared, for reasons ranging from a tad too short to too much time passing and life happenings. Others, like yesterday’s, I’m compelled to share, but only after […]
I had plans for this week, oh so many plans. But the Universe said, “Ha ha, take a break!” Tarma’s coming off her first endurance ride, so I gave her last week off. We did some ground work and I lunged her a few times, but I didn’t ride until Monday. On Sunday I drove […]
Before every big trip or event, I try to carve out some quiet space to tinker with something and visualize the path ahead. Usually this is done around packing, though last week I hauled out my saddle and futzed with my saddle bags after noticing how jangly they were at speed. I set the Wintec […]
Way back when the nights were still frosty, I hauled Tarma solo up to Tacoma and we more or less calmly puttered through a 15 mile intro ride. Just over a month later, we rode 24 miles on our last day with the Cross State Ride, and Tarma had three weeks off for a badly […]
Despite what felt like the entire Pacific Northwest being on fire, my friends and I still managed to snatch an enjoyable weekend together over in Sisters, at their first Equine Trail Sports event. The smoke was almost as bad as the same weekend last year, leading to headaches and shorter tempers, though we were able […]
Sometimes Tarma just can’t with me, and really makes me work to be with her and be a good person for her to deal with. Other times everything just flows. Still other times a lot goes right and some things are just like, “Really, mare? Please, sort yourself out.” Yesterday was the latter! It was […]
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 […]