No Excuses, Just Ride!

Last year, it was either too hot, too muggy, too rainy, too wet or too far to ride. I blamed diesel prices for driving me to cancel two trips I was really looking forward to taking. Although most of the excuses held some truth to them, come winter time when I was longing for ride time, I questioned if I had become a fair weather rider that past year? I finally had a horse that I adore and plenty of people to ride with. So why did I forgo so many camping trips and decline invitations to ride because the conditions weren't perfect?

This year was my comeback year! Time to take chances on the weather in lieu of lost opportunities. Time to start looking for reasons to ride rather than reasons not to ride. Starting with a January ride at Two Rivers and again in early March, the rides continued going into a weather friendly "Platte River Rider" season. Had an early camping trip in May and participated in a mock CTR and then started getting the horses conditioned for our South Dakota trip.

Spent several days riding in the Black Hills and could have easily spent a few more days there. What an adventure! We then traveled down to meet the Horsetales group for more riding in Ft. Robinson. Have since camped a couple times at Camp Moses, our debut camping trip to Big Elk and Labor Day weekend at Brushy Creek, Iowa. Granted, the weather has been near perfect for summer in Nebraska but I also believe my attitude of "no excuses, just ride" has played a big part in getting me out and about more this year. And the fall season (my personal favorite) is just beginning!

Before you start feeling sorry for my family, their activities come first. And at their ages, there are a lot of them. I've been with the same company for 22 years, so I have plenty of vacation time -- I'm not out there playing hooky. The things that do get put on the back burner are things that aren't that important. Household items that can easily wait until winter time! Dust bunnies can continue to hide, closets don't really need cleaned out until you need hangers! Turn the horses out on your grass and you no longer have to mow. You get the picture!

I hope you are enjoying the summer months as much as I am and hope this awesome weather continues into the fall. I'll see you on the trail!