Liz and I had met once or twice at rides and I had emailed her extensively when I was trying to do the canal ride she organized, but this was the first time we were riding together. Liz was incredibly nice and even picked me up at Ival's so I wouldn't have to figure out how to get to the parking lot or, worse, have to get the trailer back into the farm's narrow driveway. We chatted happily on the drive over and I think she'll be driving me to Maine.
The ride was absolutely lovely. Clover was a joy to ride, as always. I just had an absolute blast. It was nice to ride something uncomplicated and willing. We did what Wendy calls the 'around the world' trail, which utilizes both sides of the park and requires dry weather for the swamp crossing.
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| Clover ground tying while we search for Liz's glasses. |
My only complaint was that Clover ran my knee into a tree trunk at full tilt. I saw it coming, but didn't have enough time to react. All I can say is that it really smarted. I am proud of myself though, my leg didn't shift at all and I didn't even lose my stirrup.
Liz was having a bit of a harder time. First, she lost her glasses as we were coming down a hill. They arced into the bushes and, even with all three of us looking, we couldn't find them. It was also TP's first time in her new Easy Boots. They were staying on really well until we did a set of sprints, at which point TP bobbled, broke briefly into a trot, and felt funny coming out of it. Liz looked down to see the boot upside down on the front of her mare's foot. Thankfully, the gator held so the boot wasn't lost. She dismounted to remove them. The down side of TP being a draft horse is that she's a bit slower than Clover and Jimmy. At one point, we cantered up a big hill and waited for Liz to catch up. There was no sign of her, and ten minutes later we went back to look for her. Just then, Liz called asking which way we'd gone.
"Fail number three," she sighed.
After a fun filled three hours, Liz dropped me back off at Ival's. On the way, we talked about my job and various horses I've worked with. Liz has ridden Clover and was very impressed with how much fun she was to ride. In fact, she'd love to adopt a standardbred as her next trail horse and is surprised there aren't more of them on the endurance trail. We also talked about Ozzy, his injury, and the change in her personality from when I met him to the present day.
"So, I know we've only met a few times and I'm not one to make snap judgements," Liz told me, "but I have a lot of respect for you."
"Thanks," I blushed.
"You seem to really be able to communicate with the horses, which is rare, and not necessarily something that can be taught."
"Agreed, haha."
From there we launched into a discussion of her 17 year old thoroughbred, who used to be her primary endurance mount. She moved him to a new barn where he got incredibly herd bound and promptly lost his mind, bucking her off on a trail ride and exploding after she'd hit the ground. Long story short, he hasn't been the same since and she's not willing to ride him out until she's sure the troubles are behind him. Looks like I may have a new project in the upcoming months.
"The way I put it," I told her, "is that I'll ride anything once, and if it doesn't kill me, I'll ride it again."
Enough babble. Another ride and more new friends :) It was a Saturday well spent.
Photos under the cut.
Jimmy cantering along.
Through the swamp.
Across the river.
Liz and TP.
Up the power lines.
Tall grass.
The view behind us.
Laurel flowers everywhere.
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