Evening at Alexandria

 As I type this, I am sitting in a hotel in Richmond, VA. I am here for work training. I have spent this week getting to know my new boss better, meeting some people I've worked with remotely, and catching up with some folks who we know well but haven't seen in a while. (Funny story: my old boss is Mike's current boss and vice versa.) I am also learning a ton about the industrial side of the food industry (the whole reason I am here.) The short version of today's lesson is as follows: I can now name four types of label applicators. My favorite one is the slappy. It is not called that professionally. No, I will not elaborate.

All of this is to say that I am looking forward to being home and going back to the riding routine. In the meantime, I'll enjoy sharing photos from a ride I had with Sandy and Hannah a few weeks ago.

A Good Gallop

 It's July. When it's not raining (so much rain) it's hot and muggy. The air is like soup, but not the tasty kind. Most days, I don't want to do anything that involves the outdoors. This was the case two Sundays ago as I sat sipping my coffee in the cool comfort of my air conditioned living room. Many of my horse friends were in the same boat and we were all feeling indecisive.

Gradually, a plan for an evening ride assembled itself. I agreed to go pick Taylor and Roger up. We would meet Sandy and Cristina at Vetter Farm around 5pm. 

We wound up doing nine and a half miles, and many good times were had along the way.

Me on Lucy and Taylor on Roger after we got a good gallop in.

HSB On A Glorious Spring Day

 It is raining. Again (still?) It's honestly fine. I could use the slowdown for a change. (Although I'm not sure hauling Booger to sorting, then Lucy to roping yesterday really counts as slowing down.) 

[redacted]

Instead, let's take a moment to reflect on a truly beautiful Sunday ride I had with Sandy last month. 

Nockamixon: North Side

 A few weeks ago, Sandy and I agreed to ride together on Saturday. We didn't really have a time or a place in mind, but we knew we were bringing the fox trotters. I think we're both a little bored with the usual spots. That morning, while I was still in bed, we were on the phone and brainstorming. We both suggested Nockamixon at the same time. 

Nockamixon seems to be an annual thing for me these days, though it's close enough that I should add it into the rotation more frequently. Two deterring factors are the $18 toll to get into Pennsylvania and the lack of good parking on the south side where I usually ride. Sandy suggested riding on the north side of the lake, which I had not done before. I'm always up for seeing new trail, so I was quick to agree. Sandy sent me a pin for the parking and we agreed to meet that afternoon.

The timing ended up moving a handful of times as our days evolved, which worked out perfectly for both of us. 

While Sandy and I have been to Nockamixon several times between the two of us, this would be a first for both Tot and Lucy. We wound up doing about eleven miles and it was lovely.

Pond View with Friends

 Nothing like sneaking out for a ride after work on a random Thursday to lighten the mood. 

Double Saddle Time

 It's almost June and I'm still blogging about April. Oh my.

Two days after our Stokes adventure, I met up with Sam to babysit her baby mustang on her first off property trail ride since she came home from the trainer. Then, Sandy reached out to me and I joined her for a sunset ride from the airport on her mares. It was a glorious day.

Baby's first boardwalk!

I do love to borrow Fina.

Finn Park Ride

 This is another post that probably could have been thrown into my April recap, but I didn't do it so we'll do another blurb-and-photos format. 

I've been trailering out after work pretty regularly lately. It has been a nice addition to the routine, but it also means I'm drowning in photos with nothing exciting to report. 

At the end of April, Sandy and I met up at Finn Park for an eight mile mosey with Tot and Booger. 

Another gorgeous spring day.

Peeping Pollen at Round Valley

Well, since I'm sick and we canceled our fun camping trip to Fair Hill this weekend, I might as well blog about some recent adventures.

I mentioned in my monthly recap that I've been helping Sandy with ponying Tot. We started at the Galentine's Day play date at Hannah's in February. I took Tot for a loop with Lucy at Finn Park at the beginning of April. A few days later, we met up at Round Valley. I brought Booger. Sandy brought both her girls so she could practice ponying Tot. 

I spent April legging Booger back off after her time off, and this was a perfect leg stretcher. We did a little over seven miles at a nice easy pace, and everyone enjoyed themselves. 

Somersaults

 Intentional and Otherwise

Two weekends ago, Sandy and I met up at Deer Path Park for an afternoon of totting around. It turned into quite an adventure in a few different ways. The short version is we did a seven mile loop, stopped back at the trailer to restock provisions, were joined by Hannah and Taylor for another five plus miles, and one of us had a pretty scary fall. 

Details below.

This very tolerant animal deserves some kind of medal.

Loaner Ponies

 After the LD, I gave Lucy the week off. I am also giving Booger some down time to let her splint rest. Going from riding almost every day to pretty much not riding at all probably would have made me stir crazy. Fortunately, Sandy is a wonderful friend and has two lovely ponies! She generously shared both Fina and Tot with me last week.

Deer Path

 Another day, another ride. Sandy's spring NACMO ride is coming up, which means doing a general survey of the trail conditions at Deer Path Park. I brought Eryca and Sandy invited Michelle. I met Michelle at New York Adventure in 2023, and we have crossed paths several times since, but this was our first time riding together. (Michelle is getting added to my list of people to invite for shenanigans. She and Mira were lovely.) 

The four of us wound up doing nine and a quarter miles. There wasn't much to report, which is always a good thing. We didn't even have a single booting mishap between four horses despite muddy, rocky conditions. We had Scoot Boots, Easy Boots, Cavallo Boots, and Flex Boots. I'm honestly impressed. 

We wound up doing my usual loop backwards. Up and over the mountain first, past the general store (sadly closed on Sundays so no tacos for us), up the road, down the museum driveway (quick stop to use the porta-potty), looping around the farm fields, up Woodschurch Road, through the historic farm site, around the pond, up the powerlines, and back to the trailers. 

It was a great way to celebrate the time change and extra daylight hours to ride in.

The rest is a photo dump.

52 degrees and sunny. I'll take it.

Finn Park with Sandy

 The day after Julio died, Sandy very gently reached out and asked if I would be up for a short trail ride. 

"I might cry the whole time," I texted back.
"Acceptable."

Double Trouble

 Sandy and I got together on Sunday. 

There was some trail riding.

There were some shenanigans.

A Busy Day for Lucy

 I need to find time to do an update on Chipper. I'm overdue. In the meantime, I'll skip ahead for a second:

This photo brings me so much joy. 

Scouting Trail at Colliers Mills

 As I've mentioned, I'm hosting another NACMO ride (this Sunday, so pray to the weather gods for me). This time, I'm doing it at Colliers Mills. The nice thing is that Sandy and I were able to find some online maps that include the WMA's (which do not have official maps). I had a pretty good idea of which way I wanted to run the course, but I wanted to scope out the area for naturally existing clues. 

I was delighted when Sandy agreed to join me. Sandy has never been to Colliers Mills. She brought Tot, and I took Lucy. (We pretty much do the Fox Trotters or Bad Girls Club these days.)  We set out with no real plan in mind and wound up riding 12.4 miles. We also spent so much time laughing that we were actually sore the next day. 

Harding

 The week after the Festivus ride, I met Sandy and Melissa for a last minute adventure on the Harding trails. The Spring Valley Hounds often host hunter paces on this trail system, but I've never managed to make it out there. I was excited to go somewhere new. 

I had to laugh. Sandy sent me a pin an hour before they were meeting. I scurried as fast as I could, knowing I couldn't make it there in an hour. I wound up making it in like an hour and 15 minutes, and still beat Sandy there. Perfect!

We wound up doing ten glorious miles over properties that looked like something out of Lifestyles of the Rich & Famous. This post will mostly be a photo dump.

The light was magical for much of our ride.

Back to back Round Valley Trips

 I really need to start consolidating. We're a week into the new year and I'm still blogging about December. Sandy was preparing for her NACMO ride, and I volunteered to help with trail clearing. On December first, we headed back with nippers, hand saws, and a handheld chainsaw that Sandy was trying out for the first time. I brought Booger and Sandy brought Tot. While the temperature was technically above freezing, there was a biting wind coming off the reservoir that made it feel much worse. We wound up doing the ridge trail, clearing the big tree, and coming through the campground for a total of six and half ish miles. 

Round Valley with Sandy and Terra

 The weekend before Thanksgiving, Sandy, Terra, and I went to Round Valley for a ride. Sandy was planning a NACMO ride there for December and wanted to see if the trails were clear. We were originally going to meet in the earlier, but I had found a run in shed, and was having it delivered first thing that morning. We pushed our meeting time back to 11am.

A beautiful view at one of my favorite places. 

Hoffman Park with Sandy

 I am in my frantic year-end scramble, where I try to get the blog caught up before my annual review. Not looking likely. It helps that it is a whopping 6℉ out there right now. 

The day after the cow clinic, Sandy and I got the fox trotters out together. Sandy had recently broken her ribs (ouch) and was looking for a low key ride. We agreed to ride from her house, which backs up to Hoffman Park (not to be confused with Christie Hoffman, which we also ride in). Despite the fact that Sandy and I have been friends for over a decade, I had never ridden in this part of her back yard. 

Hoffman Park used to be a working cattle farm. The owners also owned Hoffman Beverage Company, which eventually sold to Pabst. After the husband passed, the wife sold the land to the township for preservation and park space. It was super fun to ride some new trails! 

We did a slow six miles, which was lovely. Along the way, we saw lots of airspace activity, including hot air balloons and formations of small airplanes. There were beautiful views and lots of laughter. The rest of this post will just be a photo dump.

Vetter Farm with Sandy

 A short while after Sandy brought Tot home, she asked if I'd be willing to come ride Fina with her. She had gotten the new girl out for a few trail rides with friends, but she specifically wanted to get her mares out together. Nobody was willing to ride Fina. I love Fina and was happy to oblige (poor Fina). We met up on a Tuesday after work (this was before the time change, obviously). Sandy suggested Vetter Farm, which is private preserved land accessible by permission. This was too good for me to resist. This will mostly be a photo dump, but it was glorious.

Not my usual set of ears.