Look Familiar?

 Here I sit on the cool patio, soaking up the quiet.  At least it was quiet at 4:30, after the multitude of gunshots were fired off around 3:00.  I can't tell exactly whose house it's coming from, but I think it's about half a mile away.  That guy must not like his neighbors.  I mean really, who fires off twelve rounds at 3 am just for fun??

Do these pictures look familiar?  Yes, yes they are because I was delirious from riding for three hours again, while we both related stories of old, and didn't take one single picture.  Sandy and I have a lot of people in common, many of whom have little horse sense, which means there are ALWAYS stories.  I mean truly, we never stopped talking.  It's probably not a good idea to use your phone on the back of a horse anyway.  The beeps and rings might just set them off.

This time we took off down a narrow trail through a deep canal full of blackberry vines, dodging cottonwood branches overhead, followed by pistachio tree limbs.  I never knew pistachio limbs don't bend until I hit one with my head.  You can't just shove them out of the way either!!  Lesson learned. 

We headed out on a new route towards a busy road, where we crossed a long concrete bridge.  My horse took it in stride ... it was the young Mia we were worried about.  She passed the test with flying colors.  Just the sound of their feet on a hollow-sounding concrete bridge would send a lot of horses into I-don't-want-to-go-there.  

Sandy got off to open the gate.  The hardest part of the day was finding a spot to get back ON.  Let's face it ... horses are tall and we are old.  Even a little 4" tall hump of dirt will help, but alas, the canal bank was flat as could be.  The secret, at least when you are in the mountains, is to walk your horses front legs over a log and stop them.  Step on the log and you can easily reach the stirrup.  

Always aware of our surroundings, a big cloud of dust was heading our way, meaning some idiot was spinning donuts on the canal bank.  Suddenly it stopped as we approached.  We figured he had donuted himself into the canal, which was huge by the way, but luckily he saw us and retreated.  Nothing makes a horse buck harder than a motorcycle or three-wheeler.

We made it back to the ranch with not one single incident.  That's a big plus for such a young horse.  I just can't believe how great a temperament that Mia has.  We unsaddled and washed them down, still relating stories of horse wrecks we've seen over the years.  

I had actually entertained the idea of joining the Horseman's Association again, but have since come to my senses.  I've been on a couple rides with them and it seems they haven't improved.  Let's just say there are cowboys (of which there are few) and there are wannabes, of which there are many.  I guess it comes from riding so many years and figuring things out.  

There's this thing called trail etiquette ... really, it's just common sense, which as you know can be in short supply on occasion.  Never mount your horse and take off on the run.  Every other horse around you will want to take off too, leaving lots of "cowboys" flat on the ground.  Never ride right up on the tail of a horse.  Most horses don't appreciate that, resulting in a whack to the chest of your horse with both hind feet of mine.  There's so much more, but I won't bore you.

Here's a picture I discovered in my desk drawer yesterday.  Yup that's me a few years ago at a mountain horse show where Dillon's Showboy got first place.  We didn't do this very often, since his things was working cattle.  He was my second best cutting horse.

Did I leave Cyndae home alone all morning?  Yes I did, which she appreciated so she could actually sleep in.  That's hard to accomplish around here when I'm home and Cooper wants to play.  Although I wanted the puzzle to last a week or more, Cyndae is addicted to puzzling and almost finished it in the first two hours.

I finally had to stop her because she was hoarding all the pieces, making it difficult for me to find even one!  We laughed about that.  If it gets finished today, I'll just break it all apart and start over again.

I'm pretty sure we will be riding again on Monday ... got my fingers crossed.  I have to say that very strangely, I'm not the least bit sore, but I am tired.  Maybe a nice long nap this morning will help ... if Cooper will leave me alone.  Surprisingly, Cyndae said Cooper cried and cried when I was gone, poor baby.  It's nice to be missed!!