The Friday Afternoon Club

Our Friday Afternoon Riding Club was founded last year, but admittedly, we got off to a slow start and it never really took off. Weather, schedules… all the usual excuses.

So this year we are coming back strong! Well, at least every other Friday since we have to work around Kathy’s nursing schedule. (Of the hospital kind, not breast). Deb is an incumbent from last year’s FAC and we have recruited her friend, Polly. Sheila was our other partner in crime and she is now a California girl (check out her blog).

It’s a good thing I started early because I had a heckuva a time hooking up my bumper pull trailer to my Durango. It’s never as easy as the truck, but this wasn’t my first rodeo. I think ½ an hour to get it hooked up was a bit over par! Of course that included time thinking I could just muscle it over and looking for posts and other hardware to help me line up better. I hate to admit, but I wondered later if the progressive lenses of my glasses aren’t playing tricks on me.

Ah, whatever the excuse, I was certainly pissy by the time I left for Pawnee Lake. I got even pissy-er when I realized I had forgotten my annual park sticker on my desk and had to pay an additional $4 for a day pass. (Excuse me a minute while I put them in my purse so they won’t be forgotten next time!)

But once all that was taken care of, we mounted up and walked out. It felt SOOO good to be out on the trails again and the pissy attitude faded away. We talked, laughed, walked, trotted, and ran. All the things you would expect of four horsewomen who have been trapped by winter for the last five months.

THIS is what I work all week for; THIS is the cure to my woes. THIS is worth 30 minutes of fighting with the trailer hitch and an extra $4 in park fees. THIS is my Nirvana.