It's been awhile since I've posted...

 On Shaggy at the FAMDR

Wow, it's been 2 weeks since I blogged!  With the nice weather, I'm outside more.  Conditioning 2 horses on longer miles plus spending time with 3-5 other horses takes up my day, along with paperwork and trying to post clearanced tack store inventory on facebook, which I haven't done much of that the last few weeks either!  I'll blame the weather!

 Views at Turkey Creek

This month has been a busy horsey month.  The first weekend, I went to Turkey Creek, Newcastle, NE to help judge a ACTHA ride.  A friend car and trailer pooled with me.  We both took our gaited horses and we were able to ride Friday evening after settling in, and Sat and Sun afternoons after judging.  We put on about 23 miles.

Covered pavilion at Turkey Creek

The next weekend was the NECTRA clinic, which I'll post what I remember doing.  Now, memory has to kick in! NECTRA is the Nebraska Competitive Trail Ride Associaiton, a division of NATRC,North American Trail Ride Conference.
 

Distance Derby Riders at the FAMDR

Last weekend started on Friday with the FAMDR, the Friday After Mother's Day Ride, which Tammy, horsetrailriders.com, organizes.  I think there were over 100 riders, mostly women.  A few guys ride along as safety riders, but I think they come to enjoy the ride also.  We rode a 14 mile roundtrip stretch on a great trail from Valparaiso to Loma, NE.

This past Saturday a training horse went home.  I showed the owner what the horse was acting like walking around the barns, standing tied, being in the arena by himself.  She had brought her other horse, so we went to Branched Oak Lake, which is about 25 minutes from me, to ride the trails.  The training horse rode great.  He is a 9 year old part Arab, part Paint, and it is just his personality to be a little high strung when he is by himself.  The owner had ponied him as a youngster and worked him a lot, but he just remained goosey at things.  I hope the consistent month has made him calmer for her!

We had some rain Sat evening and night, but even though it dried up on Sun afternoon, hubby and I relaxed some.  We cleaned up some paperwork in the office, froze some of the strawberries that we had picked, and went to a gun show.  Well, he went in to the gun show while I did some internet work.

Lately, I've been posting more on my Messick Quarter Horse Facebook page, about the lessons and events I'm doing.  I'll have to get back to posting more updates here!  I have a Centered Riding clinic here in another week and excited about that.  My level 3 instructor is coming and I have 10 riders!

I've been spending a lot of time riding and enjoying the 2 new Arabs, Allie and Bonita.  Bonita has the sweetest lope.  Allie is starting to pick up speed at the trot and I think she is going to have a ground eating extended trot!

The review of the NECTRA Open Clinic was:

Open Obstacles at CTR Clinic

Clinician Cheri Jeffcoat, Past Open Rider

ON GROUND:

First, we came into the arena without horses to have a question and answer session.  Cheri gave her advice on what she would do at obstacles, preparing for obstacles, nutrition, etc.

Then we came into the arena with only halters and lead ropes on the horses.  Cheri wanted us to rub the horses all over to get them to relax.  A lot of what she said to do during this clinic will transfer to when you ride them.  The 10-15 minutes that we took to rub our horses set us up to have a more relaxing training time with them.

We walked with the horse, stopping, and we waited until the horse stopped.  We worked on leading and stopping from both sides.

We were to back the horse, without turning around.  Stop, walk backwards and have horse back.  We worked on both sides.

We were to walk the horse 1 step at a time.  This sets the horse up to take just 1 step when it is needed on the trail.

We walked over logs, stopping with front feet over 1 log, counting to 5, walk on. We were to lift the horses head and front end by lifting up on the lead rope. This will help the horse to lift his/her feet and not hit the logs.

We worked on having the horse do forehand turns by moving hip both directions, working from both sides.  We did the same with having the horse do pivots, working both sides to move the shoulder.  And we worked on having the horse side pass, working both sides.

ON HORSE:

Now, my memory has to kick in, but I think we did a mixture of walking and stopping, walking 1 step at a time, and stopping and waiting.

We walked and trotted over logs, lifting the horse’s head up as we go over the legs, to help the horse to lift his/her feet. We walked over the first 1 or 2 logs, then stopped and waited over the 3^rd log. 

While trotting over logs, we were to be in a 2-point seat position as if we were going uphill.  Our lower legs were to be solid on the horse.  We were to hold with our thigh so our lower legs wouldn’t move.

I can’t remember if we practiced the pivots, forehand turns and sidepass while mounted. 

We did drag a line that was attached to about a dozen plastic jugs.  My horse wanted to see what others were dragging, but he didn’t like to drag it, as he went sideways.

We worked on straddling a log by the length of the log, which the horses wanted to step over it. 

We worked on opening and closing the gate, by asking the horse to back through it.

Everything we do on the ground with the horse transfers to when we ride!

What a great clinic!

CTR Clinic Pre-ride at Turkey Creek

Turkey Creek Ranch , Newcastle, Nebraska is a lovely place to ride. Lots of rolling hills, meadows, and a view of the river.

The Nebraska CTR group is planning a CTR clinic at the end of August.

This will be a fantastic place to host a clinic.

I'm excited to have turkey Creek within a short drive for a weekend camping trip.

I just love these hills!

Turkey Creek Trail Ride

August 27-29, 2010



Turkey Creek is just a wonderful place to ride. Lots of hills. Long, sloping up and down hills with great scenery and lots of trees! Well marked trails. Some go higher and further and is was great to have Brenda, the owner, as a guide.

There is always great food and friends to ride with. Gretchen, from Georgia, came back to Nebraska for her yearly visit. She left to work at a horse camp that specializes in handicap riders, as well as youth camps in the summer and riding lessons for adults and youth year round. Gretchen loves to cook in a Dutch oven over a campfire. We had 3 fantastic meals, and leftovers for 2 other meals. Creamed potatoes and ham casserole with homemade bread. Chicken and vegetable stir fry and cherry German chocolate cake. Egg and sausage casserole. Apple crisp. Just delicious.



Gretchen stayed with me the evening before. She had already shopped and we repacked her groceries into 2 coolers and my small trailer fridge. I had the trailer ready to go with hay, grain, extra drinking water for the trail rides, and my clothes. I could outfit a family for the weekend with all the clothes that I take, but hey, I have the room so I take extra.

Friday morning, after feeding the dogs and cats, we loaded the horses. Savannah went right in with little resistance. Maybe she was on good behavior because she had Dixie ready to load right behind her. Dixie loaded and the 2 horses were ready to go.

We had a 3 hour trip. We headed north towards Sioux City, taking a short rest room break as well as to fill up with gas. We drove northwest, driving through Newcastle, and arrived at the campground.



We were there before noon and we were the first to arrive. We unloaded horses and put them into pens. We decided to eat our sandwiches and relax a moment before picking a spot to park. We thought we would wait on Tammy to show up to decide where she wanted people. In the meantime, John and Brenda came and she showed us what area she wanted our group to be in. I backed the trailer into the spot closest to the new pavilion.



Isn’t it just wonderful?

Gretchen and I decided to take a short ride while we were waiting on Tammy. We were just leaving camp when she pulled in, but told us to go for a ride while she unloaded her horse and got her trailer parked. Gretchen only had about 2 hours to ride as she needed to be back to start the campfire and to begin preparation for the first meal. Gretchen and I rode the beginning of a lot of the trails. Not knowing how far each trail went, we turned off to stay close to camp. One of the trails was called Whitetail and we kicked out a deer. Another trail was perfectly named as Prairie Ridge, and we came out onto a field of shoulder high native prairie grass. I could imagine what the settlers felt when they saw a field like that. We had perfect weather Friday afternoon. Mid 80’s and a breeze to keep the flies off our horses.



We rode back to camp and Brenda and Tammy were getting ready to ride out for a short ride. Since Gretchen said it would take her a little while to get the fire going, and to start to prepare the first dish, she wanted us to ride again. We waited while Gretchen unsaddled Dixie. I told her to let the saddle sit by the trailer, and I would care for her tack and Dixie when I get back. We rode another 2 hours, I think, and had perfect views of the area around us.



Our group arrived after we got back, and throughout dinner time. The first evening, every one was tired of traveling and getting horses settled, and we were all in bed early. We wanted to eat at 8 the next morning and start our ride at 9, but that would mean that Gretchen would have to get up at 5:30 to start the fire. We pushed everything ahead another hour. Who wants to get up that early on the weekend? 6:30 was early, but when I went out at 7 to feed horses, almost everyone else was up. We ate, we rode, we ate, we rode. You can see how our weekend went!



We rode Saturday morning from 10 - 1. There were 2 other groups of riders, and Brenda led the trail ride, taking us places that we normally could not ride. We saw so many wonderful views of the hills and lower areas. Just breathtaking and very green this year! We have had a very wet summer and it showed in all the green around us. We rode out again at 4 and rode until 6, riding the hill tops.



Most of us were done riding so that we could help Gretchen prepare and chop up meat and veggies. We had that delicious German Chocolate Cherry cake for supper and no one was ready to move. We enjoyed our beverage of choice and I also brought out a bottle of Merlot to share. What a relaxing way to end the day, sitting back on soft chairs, chatting with friends, and sipping wine.



Sunday morning, I fried the leftover potatoes and some sausage links. Sandy cooked scramble eggs. We rode out again at 10 and rode to around 1 again. This time, we rode to the river. Beautiful. To the north was the South Dakota border.



I needed to head home, so I started breaking camp, unplugging the electric cord, putting the trailer living space in order, packing up horse buckets, and cleaning out pens again. I usually have my trailer picked up early the day that I leave, but with cooking breakfast, it took my free time to clean fry pans. I did have all the dishes put away before the ride started so that saved me some time, as well as having the 2 food coolers packed into the trailer. The little stuff takes so long, doesn’t it?

Savannah loaded just perfect, and Dixie hopped into the trailer before I even had Savannah tied off. Dixie is a good girl. I said my goodbyes, and thanked Brenda for the wonderful trail ride.

3 hours later, at 5pm, I pulled into home. Once again, temps had reached 91 at home and humidity was high. Hubby helped me to carry in coolers, dirty clothes, food out of the fridge, and misc items, like my laptop that I didn’t use. Oh well. I just didn’t get my early mornings to type like I usually do on trips. But I used the camera a lot!

And my friend Tammy from Horsetrailriders.com has me hooked on using a GPS. My new GPS is the wrist type, and now we can see our paths that we rode when we plug into the computer. How much fun is that?

As always, I was tired this morning, but had to get ready for a training horse to come in. I am really enjoying my trail riding time with Savannah. She only had a few goosey moments and jumps, but they are getting less frequent, and with less intensity. My first CTR is in a little more than 2 weeks, so I hope she is on her way to becoming conditioned for that.

Come ride a trail with me sometime! I can’t wait until the next ride!

Turkey Creek ride

We had a cool day at Turkey Creek, near Newcastle, NE, but the scenery is gorgeous. These pictures just don't do the area justice. With the extremely cold weather last weekend, many leaves have already fallen from the trees. There is still color, but there seemed to be more color viewing the hills in person, than from these pics. Enjoy!

Turkey Creek riders,


and dogs.


We could see s view of the river from the tree tops.


The hills are rolling mounds of trees and shrubs, leveling out to grassy hilltops.


Some of the hills were gently rolling, others had very steep ups and downs.


We rode between the hills.


I rode Brenda W's Tennessee Walkers. They definately walked out and cruised up and down these hills.


More pics:








Turkey Creek will always be special for me. This is the place that I felt a great grief lift from my heart since Finny's death. I have always enjoyed riding hills and trees, as that is what I grew up with. I believe you always go back to the beginning. You go back to what you know when you were a child. To what you love. I love hills, and trees. I love the changing seasons. I love family. And I love horses. I have always loved horses. There are pictures of me when I was a child of 5 or 6 with our family pony. There are pictures of me through the rest of my childhood with horses. Horses will always be part of my life, my soul, my heart. My heart won't beat if there aren't horses in my life.

My heart is starting to beat again. I need horses in my life. I know there is another special horse out there for me. I know there is a horse out there that needs me. And I know there is a horse out there that I need. I will begin my search. I love the changing seasons.

The End of the First Week

Tomorrow is here! I had a beautiful ride at Turkey Creek, near Newcastle, Nebraska, Friday afternoon and this morning. My heart was singing. I love the hills and trees and scenery. I felt a weighted load of grief lift from my shoulders. I took some pics that I will post tomorrow. Finny is where he needs to be right now, and I am where I need to be right now. I am sad that Finny isn’t with me, I am glad that I didn’t bring any horses this weekend, and I am grateful that Brenda is sharing her horses with me. That has made the transition in riding a different horse easier for me.

I rode Brenda W’s Tennessee Walkers. They sure do move out. Two of the horses were only 3 year olds, but they were solid on the trails. I will continue to look at horses. I need to find the right horse that will replace Finny at CTR’s. I can take my time to do that.

I had moments of sadness. I was comfortable talking about Finny, as my friends talked to me about him. We shared stories and memories. But I was ready to leave. I left Saturday late afternoon. I didn’t need to stay longer. I think that when I realized that I would be traveling home at 5 pm, and Finny was gone for exactly a week, I was glad that I was by myself.

On the way home, at 5 pm, I was at the end of the first week since Finny died. The radio played songs that reminded me that I was saying goodbye to my friend. Vayos Con Dios, Go with God. A song came on the radio, "You're always in my heart, you're always on my mind" and those lyrics will be with me forever. When you need me, I'll be there...

Then I remember the hills and trees and scenery. I remember how I felt when the sadness and guilt and pain was gone. I felt that I was suppose to be here, today, remembering Finny. Finny would want me to enjoy my rides. I think he knew me as much as I knew him. I can’t live my life grieving for him and not riding. But I can live my life remembering Finny with a great love and thankfulness. I am eternally grateful for what Finny has taught me and for what we have done together.

I will always wish that I had more time with Finny. That saddens me tonight. I am crying as I write this. I miss what could have been. I miss that I could have made Finny greater than he was. I am sorry that I couldn’t have taken better care of him. I am sorry that I didn’t have many years with him, and that I could have shared him with my lesson kids and my grandchildren. He would have been an awesome lesson horse.

But tomorrow is here. What happened, has happened. I can’t change that, but I can move on. I pray that God is riding my horse, and I pray that Finny is helping the angels learn to ride. I want to dream that Finny is running across a field, ears perked, whinnying, because he sees me at the Golden Gate, and he is running to meet me.

The Week After: Day 6

Thursday, I was to ride at Turkey Creek with friends for 4 days with Finny. Ii didn't go on Thursday. Today, Friday, I am going to Turkey Creek, but without Finny. Yesterday, I wasn’t sure I could go. Yesterday, I wasn’t sure I could take another horse. I wasn’t sure I could load another horse into the horse trailer. This early Friday morning, I had decided I could take Chick, as she doesn’t need, nor want, extra attention. Until I saw how muddy she was. I emailed Brenda at TC to ask if I could just ride her horses, and that was fine with Brenda. I didn’t need to load a horse into the horse trailer. I’m glad, as I knew if I had to load a horse, it wouldn’t be Finny.

Turkey Creek is 3 hours away, near Newcastle, Nebraska. I don’t know what happened to the first hour. My thoughts were everywhere, from horses, to the store, to parents, to the future. The next thing I knew, I was north of Fremont and had driven an hour.

I called my parents. My dad was sick late Sunday night, the day after Finny died. He was flown to a Pittsburgh hospital with an a very elevated blood pressure, due to prostrate and urinary tract problems. Luckily, they were able to treat him, and his blood pressure returned to normal. He came home Monday morning, and saw more doctors that day and on Wednesday. He is still having problems and will return to the doctors on this coming Monday. My mother has slight dementia, but seems to be doing very well this week. I think that when she gets very tired, she sleeps very well for a week, and that week that she sleeps well, she has wonderful memory. My parents are aging. What does the future hold for them?

I called my friend Dianna. She had shoulder surgery on Monday and I wanted to see who she was doing. Her father is also sick. We talked about horses, and she shared a story with me about her special horse who had died, a beautiful palomino. She dreams of her horse, seeing her loping in a field, with her flaxen mane blowing in the wind.

As I drove north, there were 2 horses in a field. One Palomino. One Black. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing, less than a ½ hour after I talked to Dianna. Chills went up and down my arms. The 2 horses were standing head to tail, caressing each other’s withers. I couldn’t believe that I had just got done talking with Dianna, and less than a ½ hour, I saw these 2 horses, standing in their pasture next to the highway. Is that a sign? Are those 2 horses now in heaven, comforting each other? Were they showing their owners that they are fine? And that we should be fine?

I continued to think of the future. I am distracted. At times, I remember that Finny isn’t with me and I am sad. At times, I think of CTR, and that I had been thinking of getting a gaited horse, and I am sad. Am I being disloyal? Is it time to think of another horse already? I have talked and emailed many friends this week. Everyone had been wonderful and understanding. When I think of getting another horse, it will make it seem like Finny is gone forever. Am I ready for that?

As I drove, I came to the conclusion that I could love again. I shouldn’t be afraid to give my heart away. A good friend lost her dog, but loved the breed so much that she got another one. She showed me that to love again is special. She is very sad for the puppy that she had to say goodbye to, but she has brought another special dog into her life. I could do the same with a horse. Just because I have another horse to love doesn’t mean that I love Finny any less. It means I could share more love with another special friend. And I shouldn’t be afraid to love another horse. I shouldn’t be afraid to share that special bond with another horse. It may not be the same type of love and bond, but it will be special for that horse, and that horse only.

I realized that each horse is special. I realized that each horse brings a specific love to our life. But more importantly, I realized that I can go on and share more love. There are so many horses out there that need us, just as much as we need them. I can find that horse that I can share a special bond with, just as my friend found her dog. Our next special friend helps us with our pain of losing our other friend. I lost a very special dog, Aggie, a long time ago. I still think of this special pet to this day, sometimes with tears in my eyes. She was my dog, a well mannered Springer Spaniel, who I had through my last year of college, early marriage, and with young children. To this day, I miss the connection that I had with her. I am ready to have another dog and have that same connection. Then I realized that is the same with Finny. I will miss him deeply, and forever. But that doesn’t mean I can’t have another horse that means to me what he means to me. Finny will always mean something special to me. I am just realizing how much he meant to me. Isn’t it a shame that we realize things like this when they are gone? And that makes me sad all over again. When will this sadness and the sense that I didn’t do enough leave me? Or will it make be a better person for the next horse and dog that I love?

God says that he won’t give us any more than we can handle. I don’t know how He could think that I could handle losing Finny. My heart was breaking, and I couldn’t breathe. I sobbed in agony. How did He think I was handling that? The messages that I received from friends helped immensely. Maybe losing Finny showed me how much friends should really mean to us. Maybe losing Finny will help me with someone who loses their riding partner. Maybe losing Finny has a meaning that I have yet to discover.

I don’t know how I could have handled anything more than this. Finny’s sudden death tore my heart apart. I need to think that Finny was needed somewhere else. I need to think that someone needed Finny more than me, and my heart breaks for them, as I know how much I need Finny. I pray that the angels are having a glorious time riding him.

I believe I am healing. I rode Brenda, from Turkey Creek, Tennessee Walking horses today. And I smiled and had a good time. The horses took me on a good ride. I looked at the hills, felt the movement of the horses, and realized that I was meant to be here. I rode ahead, pushing the young mare into her gait. I needed to feel, and to sense, that this was right. Jess’s horse, Tucker, wanted to walk out. We rode side by side for a lot of the ride. She is struggling with a sickness in the family. I think our horse feel our struggles, and help us. I pray that Jess, and her family, find strength and peace in the knowledge that they have many friends around them.

As I go to bed tonight, there are still many doubts. I still wonder and question what I could have done differently. I will always feel that I didn’t do enough for Finny. But I feel differently now. I am sad, but I am learning. And what I learn will hopefully prevent the next case of colic.

As I go to bed tonight, I am starting to have wonderful memories of Finny. I am seeing the future. When I wake up, that may be the start of a tomorrow. Tomorrow is coming. I just am not sure how I feel about that