A Sunday well spent....

I'm playing a little catch up tonight...
Dishes, laundry, and a bit of cleaning...

It has been one of those days when the weather isn't good for much of anything. The temps today only reached into the mid to (slightly) upper 80's, but the humidity was terrible.  Being outside for any length of time and just standing still is enough to make one uncomfortable. 

....and tomorrow will be more of the same.

Ugh.....

....so  with that in mind, and a loyal Simon taking up residence in my lap, I thought I'd talk about my ride on Sunday.

On Tuesday of last week, Vickie sent me a text message asking me if I wanted to go riding at the Castle Rock Horse Trails on Sunday.

Without missing a beat, I responded back  that I didn't have any plans on Sunday and I was all for it.

A short spell later, Vickie texts me back asking if I was ok if someone else picked Tex & I up (I have access to a truck,  but my financially, poor self does not own a horse trailer). 

She wrote that our mutual, barn friend, Brenda knows this gentleman as she has lent Morton to him for trail rides with his friends/family.

His name is Brian and he does roping & team penning with his horses.

Vickie, herself, only recently met him...

Vickie also mentioned that if anyone else from the barn wanted to go, that he would also have room for another horse.

At the time, all I could think about was getting out on the trail with my wonderful lease partner and having a nice ride. The forecast for Sunday was supposed to be gorgeous! 

During this text exchange back and forth, I had been out enjoying the evening doing some fun activities with my sister, Gayle and my niece, Fiona. For the moment, I agreed to go and filed it away mentally that I would have plans for Sunday. I then proceeded to enjoy the remainder of my evening with my sister.

It wasn't until the next day that the warning bells started to go off in my introverted brain.

What if no one else from the barn wanted to go? 

Would my shy self be able to make small talk with someone I don't even know for the 1+ hour ride over to the Castle Rock Horse Trails? 

What if we decide right off that neither of us likes the other?

What if he decides to do something crazy and dump me in a ditch somewhere and run off with Tex? 

....my mind has a tendency to think bizarre things when I let it wander too long without a leash! (perhaps I've watched 1 too many Cold Case files on TV).

The next afternoon, I approached Kris about coming with. My barn has very few trail riders and Kris was the only one at the moment that I could think of that might have Sunday free to go along. 

As it turned out, Kris was about as enthusiastic as I was at the prospect of hopping in a truck with someone she didn't know (in addition to her horse being hauled in a strange rig). It ended up being that she decided to pass on going.

At this point, I texted Vickie back and told her I was getting increasingly uncomfortable with the idea of riding with someone I didn't know.

Vickie texts me back "Brenda says you've met him."

Whaat?? (This was news to me)...

....then Vickie, being the ever-faithful  riding friend she is -- told me that if I wasn't comfortable, then she would drive out and pick me up (which takes her farther out of her way).

On one hand, I was happy that we would still go, but on the other hand I felt like a wimp. I should just suck it up and take a chance at meeting someone new (arguing with my stubborn, introverted self).

I decided at that point to text Brenda and find out more about Brian. Brenda, of course, was working (sadly....as always) and could not join us either. I remember her loaning Morton out to a friend, but did not recall meeting him.

In my text conversation with Brenda,  she did, in fact remind me of another instance in which we had gone to his place to look at a horse he was going to give to another friend who boarded at Tammy's farm at the time (that's a whole other story that would take too long to get into here).

At any rate, I might have spoken with him for about 5 minutes.  I still didn't feel like I "knew" him.

Brenda assured me that I had nothing to worry about and that Tex and I would be in safe, capable hands. She said that she had just been with Brian the previous night to cut his hair (Hairdressing is one of Brenda's many skills). She said that he had asked about me as well.... (probably wondering if I was some crazy, Axe wielding, Lizzie Borden sort of chick)....

Smiling,  I just texted back and asked if she told him that I was a fat, overanxious person who wraps my horse in bubble wrap?

she didn't respond to that (*laughs*)..

After talking with Brenda, I felt somewhat better about the idea of riding with Brian. All of my insecurities at that point had to do with me and not the situation.

As expected, Sunday brought along some beautiful weather. Sunny skies and warm (but not overly hot) with little to no humidity.

 

I got to the barn early.....about an hour or so before Brian was due to pick us up. I used the time to do a thorough groom on Tex and bond with him a bit.

When Brian pulled in shortly after 9 am, we were ready to go. I was still nervous, but told myself to focus on the one thing we surely would have in common;  horses.

Brenda was correct that I needn't have worried. Brian was the perfect gentleman through and through.

Tex shared a stock trailer with Brian's horse, Rudy and the two horses rode well together. I immediately noticed that his truck was immaculate and was dually impressed. I guess I expected well used and Dusty (not that it would have mattered as I don't judge folks by what they drive).

We got to the horse trails about a half hour or so before Vickie was due to meet us, so we took our time chatting and getting the horses ready.

I really enjoyed being able to take my time getting set to go instead of feeling like I needed to rush and hurry up out onto the trail. I'm somewhat pokey by nature, so this suited me very well.

Tex (left) and Rudy (right) waited patiently while we waited for Vickie to arrive.

Once Vickie arrived, I played "hitching post" for Dusty so she could get ready without tying him and in no time at all, we were off on the trail.

We rode for the better part of the day and had a lovely ride. 

Surprisingly, the bugs were not bad at all (they have been so bad at the farm, Tex and I have been working mainly on arena stuff as opposed to our usual rides in the woods and fields).

About halfway through, we rode over to the Ukarydee Campground and took a little break. This is a horse user's campground that is connected to the Castle Rock Trails. It was nice to get off for a bit and hang out in a shady spot. There was water access there and bathrooms which were nice to use.

 Camping there with Tex is on my list of future "activities I want to do."  I also found that the break gave my arthritic joints a much needed rest and definitely improved the quality and longevity of my ride.

This makes the 3rd time that Tex and I have ridden at Castle Rock and I still haven't seen all the trails yet.

I guess we need to go more then....

 

I wish I had gotten more photos of our ride.  I came away with only a handful of blurry, snapshots and there were many pretty views to be had on the trail. Tex and I need to work on our tripod skills!

We saw gazillions of mushrooms in a variety of colors (purple,  red, and orange among them). We also saw a couple of deer in 2 different spots. Unfortunately,  neither of them would have been easily photographed.

A blurry shot of Vickie & Brian. I need to teach my man, Tex that a good tripod will hold still.

Brian and myself. Dusty has superior tripod skills to Tex because Vickie 's picture is more clear.

All in all, it was a wonderful day. I was tired and sore and dragged my sorry butt through work on Monday but it was 100% worth it!!

I am hoping Brian will ride with us again...and even more so-- that Brenda will join us. They have known each other for quite some time but have never ridden together.

Horsey camp outing anyone?