The Snapping Turtle Story

One night I was driving home from a late lesson. I still had to stop and take care of the neighbors' cats, and it was already growing dark. As I drove past Bluestone, a car coming the other way flashed its high beams at me. I slowed a little bit, expecting either a speed trap or a herd of deer. A moment later, I saw an enormous snapping turtle just over the double yellow line, in the lane opposite mine. In the time it took me to pull over, three other cars sped by. In between cars, the turtle would poke its head out and try to step forward, only to retreat hastily as the next vehicle whizzed by. I too flashed my high beams to alert other drivers of the obstacle in the road.

Introducing: Ragnar

I have a few new client horses to introduce, but I'll start with this one.

This is KSF The Gypsy Sorceror:

Where does the time go...?

Man, I have really fallen off the blogging train this month! I'm going to take this opportunity to catch up a little bit. I have a few stories that deserve their own blog entries, and I'll try to get to those this week. Wish me luck!

So what have I been up to lately? Oh, you know... all the things.

Snapped a quick picture of this barn that I'm consulting on the construction of. It's been fun to basically design my dream barn from the ground up, but it's depressing to know I won't ever get to actually use it! 

Biltmore 2017

When Dr. Bob saw me at No Frills, he asked if he'd also be seeing me at Biltmore. I replied, only half-jokingly, "I'll be there if I can find a horse." I knew Evelyn's plan was to ride Dart in the 75 at Biltmore. Dodie's mare, Penny, had injured herself and Dodie has been riding Steel in her place. Bob's horses are all either out of commission or were spoken for.

For those of you who are wondering, Magic's thumping issue never did resolve. My last completion with him was in 2015 at Biltmore. Then he thumped at RBTR and Iron Mountain. Then Julia rode him successfully in the LD at Nationals. He finished the season by thumping on Kally at the Ohio ride. In 2016 he completed the LD at Biltmore with Kally (seemingly the only venue where he has success). Then he thumped for Dr. Bob on the LD at Top of the Rock. At Black Sheep Boogie, Abby rode him super conservatively in the LD in an attempt to keep him from thumping. They ended up being over time. I don't know if he thumped there or not. His last ride was with Beth at last year's RBTR. They tried the LD with him one last time. He thumped again. So Magic is sitting out this season. It's a shame because he has matured over the last two years and his brain is right where it needs to be. Horses!!!

Evelyn heard my musings about Biltmore and generously offered to let me take Rella or Dee in the LD on Friday. I asked if I could hitch a ride down with Jeff and Evelyn because North Carolina is a long way to drive for an LD. In 2016, I drove all the way there only to get pulled after the first loop. Since Mike is still working a ton of hours every week, I really didn't want to make that drive by myself.

Photo Time

I went to Biltmore this weekend and rode Dart in the LD on Friday, then crewed the 75 for Jeff and Evelyn on Saturday. My ride with Dart was perfect and I'll have a ride entry up shortly. Unfortunately, the weekend took an unfortunate turn, and things were touch and go for some really horrible hours Saturday night into Sunday. Things turned out ok in the end, but the trip got extended as a result and my stress level was through the roof. It will be a few days before I'm ready to put it all in writing. So, while I process and reflect, I'll spam you all with photos from the last couple weeks so you don't think I've dropped off the planet.

The view off the back deck. The pastures have gotten really green all of a sudden and I love it. Our house hunt continues, though we're not ready to move unless we find the perfect set up. We did go look at a little ranch for rent in town, and it would have been a great solution if we were in a hurry to move. It was cute and we put in an application to keep our options open. It is smaller and more expensive than our current place, and doesn't accommodate the horses, but the dogs were welcome and the location was quaint. It made me feel less hopeless about the prospect of eventually finding something that will fit our needs.

JR Goes Trail Riding

After the Tegan debacle, I told myself that I don't really need another horse. I need one of my current horses to be sound. I mean, technically, Ozzy is sound right now, but if I want him to stay that way, we can't do much for a few months still. It also got me thinking that JR was looking really good running around in the field. He'd been chasing Tegan for ten days, and came out of it looking fine.

As luck would have it, Marissa, who really needs to start blogging again, was staying at our house this past weekend. She was planning to go on a trail ride at her barn on Sunday, and kindly extended an invite to me (after we drunkenly rode Oreo bareback, double, in the front yard, in the middle of the night, but that's a separate story for another time). Tucker is boarded five minutes from my place, and Marissa and Dawn would only be walking. I know JR has been bored and I figured it wouldn't hurt to try.