Alrighty, then. Having survived Day 1, Ledger and I donned our tights and tack for Saturday’s LD. I’d made a tentative plan to ride with friends from the day before ~ the ones with the young Arab and the adorable mule ~ having first extracted a promise that they wouldn’t wait around for me if …
Friday, September 3, 2021. In the forest near Centerville, Idaho. Early. Breakfast goes down on a queasy stomach. I slept some, between long bouts of tossing and turning. I’m not super nervous ~ Ledger has good training, I know these trails, and we’re only going 25 miles ~ but first rides are first rides, and …
A Knight’s Tale: Ledger’s First Ride at Old Selam Read More »
I have a new horse! Meet A Knight’s Tale, affectionately known as Ledger. (You’ve seen the movie, right?) I found him in southwest Oregon, having been nicely started by an owner who didn’t quite have the time to meet his demands for a high-energy job. He’s seven years old, 15.2 hh, kind, and a little …
I paid less than $400 for Aaruba. His breeder wanted quiet Arabians, and Aaruba wasn’t. No, Aaruba was the plain gray, high-headed, wide-eyed, last straw that sent his sire to the vet for gelding. I first saw him on the kind of windy, muddy day that whipped his mind to wildness. Still a leggy four-year-old, he flashed about the makeshift …
Over a decade ago, when I had to unexpectedly retire a young endurance horse, I wrote this post on how to respond when a dream collapses.
There’s something about being on a horse that makes people want to say hello. I do most of my conditioning rides on the grid of agricultural roads surrounding my farm. Just about everyone who passes in a car, driving a tractor, or riding a motorcycle offers a wave. Once in a while, someone stops to …