NJ 100+ 2026

 Long time readers know that I felt something special the first time I saw Booger running around her field as a two year-old. While our relationship certainly hasn't been all sunshine and rainbows, I saw potential in the half-feral filly from the start. Potential for what exactly was a little less clear. I never in a million years would have guessed 100 mile driving horse, but here we officially are.

Three weekends ago, Booger absolutely conquered the three-day hundred at NJ 100+ and came away looking like she hadn't done much of anything at all.

Photo by Mike, of course.

Bonnie Goes to Baldpate

 Two days later, I made good on my promise to get Bonnie out for a trail ride. While Baldpate is very popular on the weekends, it tends to be a ghost town on week nights, especially up by the horse parking. 

We wound up doing a little over five and a half miles. This, paired with my lunch time walk earlier in the day, made for a tired dog. This was perfect (and actually the goal) since we were leaving for NJ 100 two days later. 

This never gets old.

Return to Baldpate

 There has been a lot of Baldpate Mountain this spring. It's reminiscent of old days with the original crew. I'm not complaining.

Hannah and I headed back on a Sunday afternoon. I was feeling lazy in the creativity department and Hannah had a buyer coming to look at a horse. Local and familiar worked for us.

Eagles, Drive Thrus, and Bentleys

 In which Hannah and I go on an adventure down the Landsdown Trail. 

Nothing to see here.

No Frills 2026

 Mike and I continue our annual tradition of photographing OD No Frills. Last year, I had such a bad time of it that I never even blogged about it. I was determined not to have a repeat performance.

Originally, I planned to bring Booger and ride her in the Friday 55. In the end, I decided not to do it. I had a variety of reasons, but the biggest one was that it felt like a lot to juggle the horse, two days of ride photography, unhooking the truck, watching a relatively new dog, and riding a tough ride with an away hold and no crew. It felt like setting myself up to fail.

Instead, I decided to shift my approach and, hopefully, my attitude. I opted to treat this trip as a little mini spring getaway. Instead of staying in ride camp, we booked a VRBO to call home for a few days. We also invited our friend Dan to come down for part of the trip. 

All in all, this change proved to be a great success and might be our new tradition going forward.

I do love these mountains. Pictured here: Moon Mountain as seen from the cabin's driveway.

Tyler with Terra

 Cranking through these posts like my life depends on it.

This one is about a ride Terra and I had at Tyler Park last month, the highlight of which was a glorious gallop.

I love to counter, "Can I take a photo?" with, "Sure, can you text it to me?"

Mercer Meadows

 This may be the year I never get the blog caught up. Things are happening faster than I can possibly write about them, and I can't seem to bring myself to just skip anything. Ahhhhhhhh!

A month ago, Hannah and I rode at Mercer Meadows.

Magic at Baldpate

 Mike and I are currently binge watching Heartland. It is my guilty pleasure show and I love how cheesy and predictable it is. Sometimes, I day dream about living life with horses the way it is portrayed on Netflix.

Other times, as I watch my yearling explore the world him at sunset, I realize that I've gotten pretty close...

No Nukes Ride

The first ride I totally forgot to blog about. Whoops.

In an effort to get caught up, I will try to keep this brief. 

Hannah and I continue to ride together after work on a regular basis. One month ago today, we headed to Baldpate Mountain, where we had a lovely ride of almost eight miles.

I love this tree and am so glad I got to visit it again this spring.

April 2026

I screwed up! Not in a way that matters, but in a way that's making me insane. I somehow got out of chronological order in my posts. There are THREE rides that I missed that should have come before my last hiking post. 

Anywhoo! 

It is somehow May already, which means I'm overdue for my April photo dump. I still have to write about:

• Riding with Hannah at Baldpate (twice)
• Ponying Chip at Baldpate
• Riding at Mercer Meadows
• Tyler Park with Terra
• Photographing No Frills and our delightful VRBO stay
• Riding the horses through the Wendy's Drive-thru
• Riding at Baldpate with Bonnie
• BOOGER'S FIRST 100 (in the cart)

Meanwhile, here are all the other random things that happened in what was apparently a jampacked month.