Winter...not so dreary from the back of a horse...

I am finally feeling better and decided to ride this weekend.  I still have a cough that sneaks up on me at times, but other than that and low energy, I am good to go!  Woo hoo!

I am signed up for the 2013 Distance Derby.  It is FREE to sign up and all you have to do is have an equine that you can ride or drive, and have a GPS.  You keep track of your miles by GPS and turn them in within 7 days of your ride.  It is a contest to see who rides the most miles during the year.   This year I got the e-mail that they were signing people up; I am Team 67 and my team name is Mustang Dreams.  It is cool because if you ride 5 different horses, it doesn't matter.  It is all the same mileage.  The thing is, you have to use the miles that your GPS shows.  Why do I say this?  Because this ride was a good one.  I decided to take the longer route instead of the 7 mile route I usually take.  I got back to the parking lot and checked my miles.  It said 4.98 miles!  ACK!  I knew that was not right so I checked my GPS track.  I use My Tracks on my phone.  Here is what I saw:

A pretty big chunk of my ride did not record.  ARGH!  When I e-mailed it to myself it rounded it up to 5 miles, so I got to count 5 miles on my route.  I don't know why it did this, but I will keep a closer watch on it.  This should be a fun year.  My goal for myself in the Distance Derby is to put myself on the front burner more instead of the back burner, and get out to RIDE RIDE RIDE!  It will also help me remember to take my phone and turn the GPS on.  :-)


It was a nice cold windy wintery day...perfect for a ride!  The only thing that got cold this day was the top of my legs and my feet.  Other than that, I was good to go.


Tripp and I getting ready to ride...I am more excited about this than he is.  :-)







Tripp kept looking the direction behind him...he could hear something that I could not hear or see.  I saw a horse and mule saddled up at a farm down the road and figured it might be them.  Yep, it was.
 
TRIPP:  "I knew it!  Told ya!"





Someone put this grill at the edge of the parking lot...Tripp knew it is not normal for it to be there, so we took a walk over to check it out.  
TRIPP:  "Yep, smells like they were cooking chicken."






Tripp and I are ready to go.  Usually my helmet bothers my forehead - I am not a hat wearer because they bug me.  I put my headband on and squished the helmet down over that and it was pretty comfy!  I will need to find a summer headband for the inside of my helmet.

One of the signs on the trail.  The Missouri Dept. of Conservation took the time and money to make nice riding trails for us, and it cuts down on erosion, etc. when we stay on the trails.  I do miss the old trails that were out here...single track deer paths is what most of them looked like.  Anyways, I take the signs seriously.  Yes it is fun to blaze a new trail, but there are so many states that have lost trails due to rude riders.  This one is so close and beautiful, I would hate to see it close to horses.  There are a few areas where you can see trail traffic cut through but all in all, I think most people stick to the trail.

Brown leaves....lots and lots of brown leaves...but they are beautiful from the back of a horse!

Self portrait while riding...

A lot of the trails were covered by leaves...it was so pretty!  You could still see the path if you looked ahead...

This is a fishing lake they built a few years ago.  This whole area was closed to horses when they were working on it.  Here is the view from the trail. the dam we cross is way on the other side and we get to mosey along the trails a little while to get there...






And there is the lake!  We could hear some dogs...hounds of some sort.  They had Tripp concerned, which is not normal for him.  Usually dogs barking don't bother him.





 Getting ready to cross the dam...






At the waters edge for a drink...but his attention is still on the barking dogs.  There is also one more thing that has him concerned.  The big gate barriers are usually closed with a gap big enough to ride through.  This time one was completely open, and he knew something was different.  This was the only area he was a little snorty with me.

TRIPP:  "Are you serious?  Let's just go, okay?  This place is haunted."

 

Tripp is an equal opportunity snacker.  Dead leaves - no problem.  It is something we have been working on.  I don't want him not to ever eat because of the kind of riding I plan on doing.  I just don't want him diving in for a meal before I say it is okay.  I needed to take a couple of pictures so I parked him at the tree. 

Tripp eating sticks while I answer the call of nature...he was not happy I did not pick a better place...like a place with dead leaves to eat.  :-)

TRIPP:  "I am probably going to perforate a bowel..."
(A little dramatic, don't ya think?)

Yay!  A creek to cross...

ACK!  There is a fungus amungus!  :-)  This is the prettiest fungi I saw on this ride.  It is one of many kinds of shelf fungi.  I looked it up.  











Here is a trail marker tree.  There are lots of stories out there about trees like this.  When I first learned about them, I thought it was for the American Indians to find water.  Then I learned that they are to mark all kinds of things like graves, camp sites, trails.  Just about anything.  There are at least 2 big trees like this that I have seen out there.






My friend Beth gave me these gloves at the Harry Whitney clinic.  I got about half way thru my ride when my hands got cold.  These gloves are very warm!

TRIPP:  "It is a mirage...it has to be....I have not seen green stuff in so long..."






TRIPP:  "Num num num...doesn't taste like a mirage!  Yummy!"

Isn't he cute as a button?  I sure do love this guy!

More pretty clouds.  

TRIPP:  "You always say clouds are pretty, lets turn back around and go home."

It was a great ride day!  It was long overdue therapy that I needed.

Until later...Karen and Tripp who is feeling pretty cocky that he did so well on the long route.

New Years Snow...

First I want to show off my roses with the dramatic sky....I am Standing Ovation Employee of the Year at work and a dozen red roses was one of the things I received.  They are beautiful!  When I got them home I set them on the porch rail to unlock the door...the sky was pretty.  And yes, I am VERY proud of my award.  My co-workers nominated me and some of the things they said about me were amazing.  What I see as "doing my job" they see as something extra.  They all touched my heart more than you can imagine!  :-)

We got a nice little snow on New Years Eve.  On January 2nd I was on my way home from work and stopped at the creek bridge.  I love looking at the animal tracks in the snow.

You can see my shadow on the bridge...

Here I am sporting my new purple framed glasses.  I have never had dark thicker frames before and thought I would try something new.  They are fun...

Well, it is hard to believe that 2013 has begun.  I still wonder where the heck 2012 went!  That is another reason I need to blog more.  So I can look back and reminisce....

Until later...Karen and Tripp who is going to be 9 this year.  Wow!

Another snowy day...

I went out at 5:10 a.m. to feed critters and it was cloudy....

I went back out at 6:20 to let Tandee and the mini's out of the barn and this is what was on the front porch!  Everything was snow covered and Hemi was none too happy about it!

Self portait time....Red and I...

Brrrrr....it is cold and windy, so what better thing to do to prolong it than take another self portrait!  :-)

Misty the snow dog days "Woo hoo!"

Nakita the snow dog and Thomas the snow cat...

My artsy fartsy mind at work...it was so pretty out this morning!

Pumpkins and snow.....this is taken early in the morning...

This was taken the next morning...  :-)

Thomas the snow cat with the long bushy tail...

Tripplette says "Do I hafta go out there?"  Notice Red peeking thru the door wondering if it is safe to come in now.  (He is part of the clean up crew when Tandee is done eating...she is messy)

Wyoming and Batman on clean up duty...

Wyoming full of snow....

Wyoming's snowy mustang rump....

 There were four deer nibbling on a shrub...the fourth one went up behind the trees...





Saturday morning was so pretty!  Snowy ground and the sun was shining...


The bee hives are snow covered.  We got in the hives late Fall so we know there was some honey, but not knowing what the winter was going to bring, we left it all there for the bees to feed.  This spring we will for sure get a little bit out.  We also plan on putting up traps and hopefully we will capture a swarm for one of the empty hives. 

Tandee hanging out with the donks...

Joker the mustang with a snowy nose...

Misty loving the sunshine and the bed of snow...

I don't know if I have ever told the story of how we got Misty.  Brian and I went to Orscheln's for horse feed and Columbia Second Chance, a no kill facility, had some of their dogs there for adoption.  Misty was there and scared to death...she would not look at anybody.  I sat in the store on the floor with her on my lap for over an hour...and he just wouldn't respond.  It broke my heart she was so empty inside.  She was there because she had to be.  I asked Brian what he thought and he said "What is one more mouth to feed?"  We made arrangements for her foster family to bring her out so they could do their check on us.  They ended up leaving her with us.   It took her a few years to learn to be a dog.  I am serious, it was at least 3 yrs if not longer before I finally saw her wag her tail and make like she wanted to play with Snoop.  I was soooo happy!  Before that everything she did was about survival.  She acted more like a wolf than a dog...which was sad but also fascinating to me. 

We were told to lay her on her back on our lap to work with her...to earn her trust...etc.  You know what?  I tried it several nights in a row and I finally decided it was b.s.!  Not b.s. with all dogs, but b.s. with this one.  She needed to trust in her own time...not in my time.  And trying to make her relax while Brian held her....oh my gosh, if you were deathly afraid of a man, would you want to be held by one to get over your fear?  I think not.  So we quit doing that and let her take her time.  They are like horses....every one is very different and should be handled different.  And it is all a learning experience. 

Her story:  She was about 1 1/2 yrs old when we got her.  She was a puppy mill dog and the place was having an auction to sell everything off instead of signing the dogs over to the law.  The foster family saw her and even tho they are not supposed to 'buy' dogs for Columbia Second Chance, they could not let her stay there.  They won the bid on her.  She had to be shaved because she had mouse feces (a/k/a crap) embedded in her skin, and mice had made nests in her fur.  She was deathly afraid of men and was hesitant of women.  We don't know what was done to her while she was at the puppy mill place.  :-(

She is still very leary of men but will come up to Brian from behind and tap him on the rump with her nose when she doesn't think he is looking. Hee hee!  Brian lets her explore on her terms.   She will run and play with me and she adores Hemi.  She detests Nakita.  It was a long road and we really didn't know what to do at times, but it all worked out.  :-)  Patience and time...
 

Nevada coming to see if I have treats...he deserves one because it snowed.  Just ask him!  :-)

Stormy and the sun ....he is putting me under his spell...

Tripp with a frosty nose...what a handsome fellow!

Tripp hiding behind the pole...he actually kept peeking at me around the pole.  Joker just stood around eating snow.

Snow with a twig in the middle...I don't know why, but it made me smile.  :-)

Batman and Tripplette on the clean up crew...








Wy and Red wondering if I am coming out of the barn bearing gifts....if you look to the right side of the photo you can see a curly looking dark spot...that is the ear of Chase the llama...

And this is Chase wondering if he is being left out of the gift giving process!  He pins his ears and flattens the top of his eyelids when he is trying to make a point.  :-)  He doesn't scare me!  Ha ha!

The next several days are supposed to be cold, so the snow will stick around a while.  My plan was to go riding on New Years Day...it was beautiful!  But I have had this cold since Christmas day and Brian said that the fresh air would do me good, but 2 or 3 hrs of cold air hitting my lungs won't be good.  I have had a cruddy cough....geez....it really puts a damper on the fun stuff!

Anyways, the snow is still pretty and it will be here for a while.  Hopefully I heal quick and can get out for a ride! 

Until later....Karen and Tripp who doesn't think he should have to go anywhere in the snow.