Riding, Riding, Riding

During and after a brief hot spell earlier this month, I was lacking ambition to saddle up, which is quite unusual for me. I took a short trip with my kids and sister which wasn’t horse related. Combine that with getting them ready for school and all that entails, it just seemed my horses were on the back burner. I was looking forward to camping last weekend when the rain started. Can’t complain – we got close to 2 inches which we are thankful for since our alfalfa was just cut. All things considered, I am about 30 hours behind my August riding goal.

There are a lot of things coming up next month that Windy needs to be legged up for. Heck, I need to be legged up for it!

• Labor Day weekend camp trip
• Competitive Trail Ride mid-month
• Annual Cowgirl Weekend

All these events are multi-day rides with many hours in the saddle. Although a few weeks off isn’t the same as coming off the winter hiatus, it seems the mind needs to get conditioned to working once again as much as the body. I’ve had Windy out every day this week and it seems she has forgotten we have a purpose to riding. Meander. Ramble. Traipse. Stroll. Eat. (Hmmm. I’m not sure if it is describing her or me, but you get the picture. )

A new friend and neighbor, Amy, is also doing the September CTR. We live just 10 miles apart and have found a quiet gravel/dirt road just about half-way in between our homes. It is an old railroad route, the tracks long ago pulled up. It takes us from Czechland Lake to the “ghost town” of Rescue. There is little traffic and lots of trees. Shaded and quiet. Almost perfect for road riding. We can get in an easy eight miles and since it’s close to home, only be MIA from the family for a couple hours.

Assuming this was once the Rescue General Store

Robyn and I chose to forgo our respective Platte River Rides this past week and meet at Two Rivers for more conditioning. She is also planning on the CTR as well as the APHA ride at Ft. Robinson. There were storms all around us that evening and the skies were just beautiful!

This week’s weather has seemed almost fall like. The mornings have been in the fifties and the days in the low to mid-eighties. Is Nebraska summers becoming the new San Diego? Don’t laugh! This is the second year in a row that we have only had a couple weeks of very high summer temperatures. For the most part, it’s been a mild summer, and although we always ask for more, we’ve had fairly adequate rainfall. I’m hoping these current conditions carry through the “real” fall. And keeping my fingers crossed that we don’t have an early winter.