The icing on the cake to a great weekend! A ride with a friend...

B had an appointment about 1 1/2 hrs from here, so she swung by for a visit....and a ride!  It was mid afternoon so I chose the 'medium loop' to ride.  It is a nice loop around to the lake and I knew we would get back well before dark.  She had a 2 1/2 to 3 hour drive home.  B has a mustang of her own named Logen.  She has had Logen about 2 years and has had a ball learning new things with her. 

What an awesome day!  Sunny and windy...just beautiful!  It was layed back and very fun to visit.  Okay, layed back is putting it mildly....I would get to talking and find ourselves going at a snails pace.  I had to remind Wyoming that we needed to "walk with purpose!"  Tripp thought he was walking with purpose. 

B rode Tripp, and in spite of him thinking that working two days in a row is against the law, he did great.

B loving on Tripp...






I was trying to get a picture of B on Tripp and Wyoming photo bombed...






B and Tripp are ready to go!  Woo hoo!


 

And down the trail we go.

 

This is what you do with a blurry color photo....take the color out of it and make art.  :-)

We were almost to the lake when we met a couple of gals riding.  And I knew one of them!  I had not seen M in years!  She was riding with a friend and they were on Tennessee Walkers.  We chatted a while and B showed them pictures of her Logen.  :-)






We made it to the lake...

I walked Wyoming down the big hill and Beth rode Tripp down.  Sometimes I ride and sometimes I walk them down...depends on how I feel and how I think they feel.  Me?  I needed to walk a bit. 

The last uphill of the ride....I wish we had time to do the loop again!  It was so fun and I was just getting warmed up.

I was trying to get some of those pictures of me with B in the picture behind me.  Taking photos with a phone is hard enough for me, and trying to get them half way clear is another challenge.  This is what I ended up with and it made me laugh.  I thought "Okay, they are not perfect, but they are blog worthy."  Anything that reminds us of how much fun we had is very blog worthy!
  

Wyoming looking cute!  I used the bitless bridle on him;  I have attached the reins to the side rings and used it as a side-pull.  He still likes to pull on me and the Beta does not release like I think it should.  Well, in all fairness he pulls hard on me at times...I am happy to say I think he is getting better about not pulling, and he is softening up a bit.  (Until he gets stressed....then he is a pulling machine again).  I keep telling myself I need to make something for the other rings so they don't stick out the side.  I have an idea...just need to do it.  You will think it is cool....trust me.  :-)

We got back to the parking lot and were unsaddling our mustangs when the other gals showed up.  A asked B if she wanted to ride Libby, her new TWH.  B had never ridden a gaited horse...she was in for a treat!  And her smiles says it all!







Then A asked if I wanted to ride her.  I was so excited!  I had not ridden a gaited horse in years, and let me tell you, this girl was the bomb!  She was the smoothest gaited horse I have ever been on.  Okay, it isn't like it has been hundreds or anything like that, but it has been a few.  A got a very good deal on Libby....she got herself a gem in this one!  

Notice the stirrups are a little long for me.  But it didn't matter....she was so smooth I was not going anywhere!  :-)






They got unsaddled and ready to go.  They are going to start a riding group called the Red Boot Ladies or something like that.  There are a lot of women that don't have someone to ride with, and the goal is to make it so nobody has to ride alone.  Some are single and some have significant others who don't ride.  Either way, it is more safe to ride with someone.  Says the girl who rides alone 99.9% of the time....  B and I said we are going to buy red boots!  ;-)







Before we loaded up, we had to get a self portrait of all four of us.  Now that was tough!  Ha ha!






I thought this was the perfect picture to end this entry.   I think B had a great time!  I know I did!

 

For quite a while I have wanted to have two horses that were rideable, and at least one that I could put someone else on without worrying about something crazy happening.  Yes I know crazy stuff can happen any time any where on any horse.  But I like having one like Tripp around...one who might not be perfect and he might not know some of the cool stuff other horses know, but he is dependable.

Until later....Karen and Tripp who thinks he should have the rest of the month off... 

Great Weekend....Met some great people!

I took off Friday....had plans to do something, but you know how plans are?  They can change at any time.  I chose to stay home instead, and I am glad I did.

Friday I went for a ride...took out Wyoming again.

The sun came out a couple of times but most of the time it was cloudy and a bit chilly.  NO BUGS!!!!  I am loving the cooler days!  Yay!






The foliage is still changing...I hope it lasts a while.  I never get tired of viewing the beauty of everything around us.






HELLOOOOOOOOOoooooo..........






Here is where the new adventure begins.  I was sitting on a rock letting Wy eat some grass (Laramie is at home testing out the dog pen) when I heard someone call to me from behind.  It was a man on a bicycle.  We got to talking and he said he grew up with horses, as he was introducing himself to Wyoming.  When he asked Wy's age, I told him he was 7, and a mustang.  The guy lit up!  He said if I had time I really need to head to the other side of the lake to visit with his wife.  She follows a couple mustang blogs and keeps up on what is going on with them out West.   I knew what would happen if I rode over there at that moment....I would get to talking, run short on time, then rush to make it back to the truck/trailer in time so I can get home; Brian and I were going to an out of town High School football game.  I know me...that was not going to work.   










Wyoming watched him leave....and I was trying to figure out a way to make this work.  I really wanted to meet this gal.






As I headed back to the truck I got to thinking....I could get him loaded up, then drive over to visit with the gal.  They were having an Airstream (shiny silver travel trailers) Rally at the lake and he told me which one was theirs...but only if I had time.  ;-)   Since Wy was already loaded up I would not be rushing to ride back, so that gave me some wiggle room.  Yes, this would work!   




 




I drove over to the lake and met P.  I knocked on her door and said "I met your husband and he told me that I needed to come visit with you because I have a mustang horse."  She was sooooo excited!!!

She loved and loved and loved on Wy....it truly brought tears to my eyes.  I know this visit made her day, but it made mine too.  I learned she is an artist (and I didn't get to see her work - darn it!  Next time!) and she took her first horse ride at age - well, I don't know if I should say at what age, not that you would believe it by looking at her.  We will just say she was very much an adult before she took her first horse ride (that is when the wheels started turning in my head...I was going to bring Tripp back the next day for her to take pictures of...)







D. was crackling some paper in his pocket and Wy thought it was a treat.  Yes, I didn't let him down.  I grabbed a couple of alfalfa cubes out of the truck.  :-)

For not meeting many people, Wy did great!  He let D. pick up his hooves.

Wy was not so sure about the hat at first.

This is one of those things that I loved!  D. kept smiling while watching P. and Wy.  Heck, I think he smiled as much as she did!  It was awesome!!!

There was grass all over the place, but Wy loved eating out of P's hands.

More horse hugs.

AND THEN CAME SATURDAY....

Tripp said I needed to read the sign...it had important information on it that I will need to know about.  I am very lucky to have him look after me.  :-)

 

Well heck, that is a lot of time that I can't ride out here!  ACK!  No wonder Tripp was so smug!  He thinks he is getting another break!  I need to find a Plan B!

In the meantime I am going to enjoy the trails.....the sun coming through the trees was so pretty.  Another one of a kind piece of art from God.  Love it!

 

And we are ready to go!

Tripp and I are making like we are the neighbor from the Tim the Toolman show....we are Wilson and Wilson's horse.  Hee hee!

This hairy moss was...well, it was cute!

 
Lots of leaves are falling...










The whole ride I was excited to get down to the lake...P was going to be surprised at my thought.  :-)

The Conservation Dept. set up this rally for the Airstream group.  I counted 8 trailers down there.  I am not sure what all states were represented, but I do know they had Missouri, Iowa, Vermont, and I think someone said Ohio.  I did not visit with everyone, but the few I talked to were the nicest people, and they had great stories to share.  Another neat thing...D and P didn't know any of this group before they got here.

Here we are looking down on the parking lot.  They could not have picked a better weekend to visit.  The leaves are starting to change, the sun was shining most of the time, and they got to do some hiking and fishing.






I rode down and P got to meet Tripp.  She was in love.  There were several others that came to visit with him too.  But I had another surprise up my sleeve....I asked if she wanted to ride him.  She was so excited!  She had only ridden once so she wanted me to walk her around, which I happily did.  

This was funny.  D was giving Tripp an apple core.  Normally Tripp doesn't eat apples but he took the core.  Then he dropped it, went down like he was going to retrieve it, then he started eating grass!  I am convinced he did it on purpose!  Ha ha!






She couldn't stop smiling!

We wandered around a bit and talked...

Then we walked to the top of the driveway that takes you down to the lake....she got a birds eye view from the back of a mustang.  :-)  It was up here she asked about how to 'drive' him and do I think she could.  We decided to wait until we got back to the parking lot because he started getting ancy and wanted to move.

P took the wheel and at first Tripp followed me, then she asked him to Whoa! while I kept walking.  He listened and stopped!  Yay!  Then she changed directions with him.  They both were great!  

I asked D if P can have a pony!  Ha ha!

I ran back to the trailer to grab my helmet and when I turned around, they all looked like they have known each other forever.

In this picture it looks like Tripp is moving back from the inflatable canoe, but the wind was blowing his mane and all he did was look up, watch it walk by, then he started to eat grass again.  It didn't bother him at all.  Now if this was Wyoming, I think the picture would have been different.  Ha ha!

I know P getting to meet the mustangs was a huge highlight for her.  But it was also a highlight for me.  I have never lost that love of horses and that feeling of being a little girl inside every time I see a horse.  It was almost like I could feel what P was feeling...and it made me want to giggle out loud!  They are talking about coming back next Fall, and if they do, guess who will be visiting?  :-)

 

When I got back I gave Tripp his treats, but not until Brian was done loving on him.  I think Tripp is a bit spoiled.  :-)




What a great couple of days!  And Sunday was going to be the icing on the cake.  A friend was coming to ride!  She would ride Tripp and I would ride Wyoming.  Blog entry to come soon!

Until later....Karen and Tripp who thinks it is very wrong for the girl to plan his next day of work when he hasn't even got to rest from this day...