Living life in pursuit of ten feet tall, still!
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 […]
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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 […]
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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 […]
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The alternative title for today’s post is “WTF?” Was Mercury in Pluto or something? I’m so confused why today went so off the rails…and yet we were all able to enjoy a lovely ride anyway. It really all started because I’m a dumb human with smart animals. I have a routine on weekend ride days, […]
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I happily blame everyone who actually reads this random blog and sends encouragement in any form for this crazy ride with Tarma for what happened this last weekend. Ya’ll are put on notice for being generally awesome, and partly for helping Tarma and I get so far so fast. Of course I take some credit, […]
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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 […]
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With the truck in the shop and *checks calendar* only 16!!!! days until we leave for the John Wayne Cross State Ride, this is the perfect time for some reflection. Power washing my trailer last weekend gave me plenty of time to think. I’m also doing twice weekly PT for my ankle, as that’s been […]
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Not every ride will be scenic and beautiful and easy. Not every ride will have excitement or breakthroughs or wonderful rights. Some rides you just put in the work, the solid butt building miles, and call it a day. Today was that day. My only goal was at least 10 miles, done slowly as we […]
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62 days and counting until the John Wayne Ride and Tarma is in a solid place, according to two equine professionals. Yesterday I had my saddle refitted and reflocked, and it was also farrier day. The saddle fitter noticed the Wintec was a little deflated on the right, which makes sense as that is the […]
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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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On the loose 