Gaited Giggles Galore

Haven't gotten a chance to post but I took Glory out for a nice long and FAST ride on Tuesday night... and I am STILL grinning!!! Man is that girl SMOOOOOOOTH. I feel like a broken record, sorry if I am boring y'all... but I am so happy about this! The big test will be this weekend, her first 25-mile endurance ride - Man Against Horse in Prescott. Wish me luck and I will report back on Sunday!!!

PS to any internet stalkers or other thieves - Randy and Hilary will be home so just because I am out of town, don't think you can help yourselves to my stuff!!! Besides, TANK is ALWAYS on guard... ;)

Granite Mountain's Backside ;)

I've ridden Granite Mountain in Prescott a few times, but we have always driven up into Prescott and taken Williamson Valley Road to the trailhead there. This time JoAnn posted a ride from the WEST side of Granite Mountain, off Contreras Road... which saved us almost half an hour of driving time! It was a lovely trail although it got pretty hairy in a couple of places, JoAnn hadn't been on it since last year and the spring run-off washed out a few areas... we all got through just fine though and had a fabulous day! I took Glory again, to give her a taste of the altitude before asking her to do the 25-mile Man-Against-Horse next weekend...

Just a few pics from our day:
Our fearless leader JoAnn, on Dandy.

Benjamin... isn't he handsome? The license plate holder on Sheila's trailer says "Benjamin the Wonder Horse" so I asked her about it... she said, it's because for the first six months she had him, she wondered why she bought him! Well it seems the first six months was worth it, Benjamin is a great trail horse now!


Couldn't resist this one... {it's Laurie and Topper}

This is "The Big Tree", a huge alligator juniper... JoAnn told us it has been written up in the Arizona Highways as one of the 10 largest trees in our state!

Looking back at our group - yup Glory was up front most of the time!

Loved this rock and dead tree...

And another dead tree, I jus tlove this type of silhouette shot!

Out "token male" on this ride ;)

You could sure tell where the water was underground!

Glory Hallelujah!

No pictures because it was too dark, even though the moon made it easy to ride... but I've got to tell you, I LOVE THIS MARE! I took Glory on the moonlight ride, along with Laurie and her Katie, Melwood and DD, and Brenda who we convinced to join us and ride my Katie... and a new riding buddy, Lori, with her appy Tansy. All but Tansy are gaited and Tansy walks out nice so we had a moving-out ride... and when we turned the corner at 243rd and headed for home, the 4 mares who live here knew it, and they really wanted to go... Lori was a good sport and kept up with us, and boy did we fly! And as much as I love my Katie, I have to say there is no doubt that Glory is much the smoother ride... in fact even though I forgot to add my sports bra for the double-bagging we usually do, my boobs weren't even bouncing! And yes, that IS a big deal ;)

Because we didn't get done until about midnight, I actually slept in this morning instead of riding in Rainbow Valley like I was hoping... but I needed it! AND, since I was actually HOME for a change, we got the rest of the north side of the living room floor done YAHOO! Then off I went to my friend LindaK's for her birthday party, a little swimming, a little chatting, a little eating, a little drinking - and lucky for me I rode along with Lisa so for once I didn't have to be the designated driver! AND, I found a new drink... I'd never even heard of Tequila Rose, but oh boy is it good! Adding that to the grocery list for this next week for sure!

Now it's off to bed because tomorrow we leave by 6:30 AM for Granite Mountain!

F-RIDE-day at Emery Henderson

Well this morning it was the Black Canyon Trail, leaving from Emery Henderson Trailhead and heading north, we did the Boy Scout Loop and then continued on to Doe Spring to water the horses as it got pretty hot. Meant to be about a couple hours, ended up being FIVE and got pretty warm by the end... and tired! Can you guess who I rode?


This is Kate, who belongs to my friend LindaK. She has a hilarious habit of stopping on our rides to scratch her belly on a handy bush...

Between the Boy Scout Loop and Doe Spring this hill is COVERED with saguaro, just beautiful!!!

I liked this shot of my friends framed by saguaro too...


And we saw this


Oh, and I was riding LUNA! She wasn't a nut at all today.. in fact, she was SO CALM she was almost a dud, I got tired from kicking her trying to get her to move along... just might have to get the spurs out before our next F-RIDE-day!

And now I am off to Goldein Wei, our favorite Chinese restaurant, for a birthday dinner for my friend Melanie - looks to be about 15-20 of us gathering, should be a blast! And after that, a moonlight ride, which I will have to post tomorrow.

Katie is Better :)

Took my steady girl out tonight, as she has not appeared to be limping the last few days... she is fine at a walk but when I asked her to move out I noticed a tiny bit of a hitch in her git-along... so I think my plan is good, to let her take it easy for another week, concentrate on getting Glory ready for Man Against Horse next weekend and take her for her first 25-miler... WISH ME LUCK! Then, it will be getting both of them legged up good in the hopes of going to Moab, Utah the last weekend in October for the 3-day endurance ride... wonder if this old lady can do 25 miles 3 days in a row? Well, I DID do 3 12s last spring and it was easy as pie...

The Truck Conversion, Part Umpteen...

Yeah, I know, "umpteen" - well I forgot how many times I have posted updates on the truck. So deal with it!

The flatbed is coming along, Brandon does nice work!






The temporary permit is up on the 4th of October so the truck has to be ready for inspection by then... can't wait to get it back and KEEP IT!

And, I took Glory out with Laurie and her Katie tonight... she was a bit more active than Luna last night, but she still went almost all the way to Laurie's alone, and then back home alone after... and when I ask her to move out, man is she SMOOOOOOOOOTH... Shirley calls Gypsy her Porsche, and Champ her Ferrari... an dnot that Glory doesn't move, because she does, but Randy says he would call her a Bentley, she is such a smooooooth ride... yup I am grinning from ear to ear...

Yay Luna!

Well tonight I told Randy, if I call you, ANSWER IT, because I am taking Luna out alone... and I tacked her up and went out the gate, got on and about that time I finally heard from Laurie, she was home and getting ready... so I headed over there. Luna went alone, with no issues, all the way to Laurie's... then we rode together a bit, under the almost-full moon... gorgeous night! And after we dropped Laurie and her Katie back at home, Luna went on to our place alone...

YAY LUNA!!!!

Las Cienegas Endurance Ride

Had a great weekend down Sonoita way, even if I didn't get to do the 25-mile ride like I had planned...

Shirley caught me tacking up for a warm-up ride Friday afternoon...

Brenda took a nice picture of Kandace, Cathy and me heading out for a warm-up ride Friday afternoon... this was only my second time riding Glory!

Sabrina about ready to head out on Jersey for the 50-mile ride... Shirley will get Gypsy ready as soon as the 50s have gone.

Kance with Yankee, and Cathy with Soldier, heading out for the 50...

By the time I got on Glory to do the 12-mile fun ride, everyone else had gone... I wasn't surprised that she decided to pitch her lil trademark fit... I WAS surprised to find out Brenda had caught a picture of it! She settled down once we got going and she did a MARVELOUS job on the 12-mile ride... based on what I have seen so far, I am expecting that Glory will end up being my main endurance horse, and it will be Katie who is the "relief pitcher" - which I don't think she will mind at all!!!

All in all, a great weekend!!!

Best Laid Plans of Mice and Men...

This weekend it's the Las Cienegas endurance ride down in Sonoita... it will be Katie's first 25-miler of the season...

Well, that was the plan anyway. Took her out for a short ride tonight and SHE IS LIMPING! Bad enough that I ended up getting off and walking her home :( so there is NO WAY she will pass the vet check for the ride Saturday...

WHAT DO I DO?????

Well I hate to miss the trip, everything is packed and ready... and I do have this other horse... so ok, change of plans. Will throw GLORY in the trailer in the morning - this weekend will be a good chance for me to get to know her better!

Um... PRAY FOR ME!!!

Poor Wade!

He came to shoe this afternoon and among other things I had him trim the new mare... when I came home he was just finishing up so I got a chance to chat with him. He said he thought that red mare was going to kill him... OOPS! I forgot to warn him that the owner and boarding place call her "the red b*tch" and why...

See Glory has this habit of pinning her ears and swishing her tail... she will let you walk up to her in the pasture, and even approach you, but she looks like evil incarnate while doing it... until you reach her and touch her and then the ears come up and they say it's all show, she had not actually bitten or kicked anyone in the two months she has been with them, nor has she done tha there...

But man oh man when she comes at you with those ears pinned and that tail swishing you just KNOW something is gonna happen... {cringe} and then it doesn't. Now I am laughing at her and actually she is already better with me...

Sorry Wade!!!!!

And tonight, it was Luna's turn to ride. Unfortunately Laurie couldn't make it so we didn't get off property, but I tacked her up and got on and rode around the yard for a while, and WOW! Who are you and WHAT HAVE YOU DONE WITH MY LUNA????? She was mellow, she was perfect... no problems at all! And Lindsey told me that she really didn't get to ride her as much as she had hoped... so did my girl grow up finally? Did she think she was banished for the summer for bad behavior? Did she miss me? I'll never know WHY but I can tell you I am LOVING this mare...

Glory's First Ride

Gave her a couple of days to settle in... actually I would have LOVED to ride her last night, but Hilary wouldn't cooperate by sticking around and I promised Randy long ago not to ride when no one is home...

Anyway, tonight he was my "safety net" and also my photographer... of course by the time I got home from work, got everyone fed, and gave her time to finish, and then got tacked up, it was almost dark...




And, Randy needs more practice with the camera...



I was told by the owner, and the gal where this mare was boarded (where they called her "the red b*tch,!), that she HATES arena work and will pitch a little fit, but if you don't put up with her attitude, she will quit... well even just being in the yard, she decided to pitch a little fit... scared Randy, he was hollering at me to be careful, I forgot to tell him that I was warned about this and expecting it, and sure enough, she settled down pretty much once we got moving. Although you can see in the one picture that her tail was still swishing. Anyway, Laurie came over with her Katie and Randy opened the gate for me, and we took a very short spin across the street. Glory did great! So far, so good...

South Mountain

Do you think I got up early enough???

This is my friend Shirley's new horse, Champ. Isn't he handsome...

And he LOVES his new mama!!! See, he came from a place where he didn't get ridden much, and this boy LOVES to MOVE...

Brenda was along as well, with Danny - this horse has an amazing story... he had an eye problem which his previous owners couldn't afford to fix... Shirley took him in and took care of all his medical needs... he is such a nice old boy!!!

Shirley and Champ at the top of the first hill...

What an amazing horse... he WALKS, just his normal walk, at FIVE MILES PER HOUR!!! It was a challenge keeping up with him... as you can see:
Take a closer look, there he is, way ahead!
After this I was too busy keeping up with him to take more pictures :( but we had a great morning!

And, I swung on out to Queen Creek to pick up Luna since I was already halfway there... it will be interesting to see how things go at home with Glory having come in while Luna was away...

Estrella Training Track - Long Loop!

Today we headed for Estrella...

The victims:
Cinnamon (Brenda)

Jersey (Sabrina)

Gypsy (Shirley)

Katie (me of course)
and amazingly enough, Destiny! Yup I actually got Hilary out of bed for once...


Just a few shots from our ride... and of course I forgot to ask someone else to get some of me and Katie {sigh}





But this is a GREAT endurance training workout!!!

Got home in time for a nice nap, then a nice visit with my mom who hasn't been out in quite a while... and it's early to bed as tomorrow, I am off to South Mountain!!!

But first, remember "possibilities" from earlier this week? I picked up the mare last night. They have been calling her Savannah but to me that is Sabrina's horse and I just can't get past it... they did say that "Glory" is part of her registered name so I'm gonna go with that :) She spent last night safely in the small pen, and when I got home from riding today I opened that gate and let her into the small paddock, with a common fence to the arena where all of my horses are. So far so good...

F-RIDE-day...

Had a great ride out from the Wickenburg Rodeo Grounds this morning with Mary, Melanie and Linda

Love this shot...

Linda's first time loping on Logan since he tossed her and broke her ribs a couple of years ago... she was so happy!!!

Came across a desert tortoise! Only the seond one I have ever seenin the wild... so thankful Katie did not step on him!

And thanks to Mary for making sure there was a picture of me too... the ocotillo were amazing, so thick and green!!!

Lunch at Anita's afterwards of course... and then home for a nap! What a great day...