Lucky Hoagie

 While we were all out on our moonlight escapade last month, the Amwell Valley Hounds hosted a hunter pace on our home trails. As I've lamented repeatedly, the state of the home trails is dismal. In fact, I have stopped going to the Amwell Valley hunter paces because they are often three miles or less (and quite pricey to boot). 

Imagine my surprise when Michele posted on FB the next day saying that the pace was eight and a half miles! I messaged her right away to get her GPS track for recon purposes. I noted that much of the course was on land that probably involved special permission for the pace, but there were a few segments that looked promising if I could get over there.

I put a pin in it for a potential after work adventure one day.

A few weeks later, I was trying to get Sandy to commit to a Tuesday afternoon ride. Her work schedule was not cooperating. At a certain point, I told her she could borrow one of my ponies and sneak a ride in on her way home. My barn is conveniently located halfway between Sandy's work and home. Sadly, she declined.

Then, just as I was accepting my fate as a solo rider for the afternoon, Sandy texted me back to say she could ride after all! Two u-turns and some scrambling later, I had spare clothes, two trusty mares, and two full sets of tack ready to go. Sandy reciprocated by picking up a hoagie from an excellent deli for us to share on our ride. (This is how we discovered that a hoagie will conveniently fit in the thigh pocket of Kerrits Ice Fil breeches. May this knowledge empower you in your journey through life. You're welcome.)

Sandy and I set off on a mission to see if we could get to the far side of the valley. (And back, ideally, but we had the Rescue Wagon™ on standby just in case.) 

The short version: mission accomplished. Rating: moderately sketchy at times.

Sandy dressed as me and Lucy at the far end of our loop that day.

Melt Your Popsicle CMO 2025

 I am about to run out the door to set up the course for the second annual Horse Days of Summer NACMO ride. I am also admittedly procrastinating because it's going to be almost a hundred degrees and the long course is twelve miles and I am going to be getting on and off the horse a million times. 

Which reminds me... the last NACMO ride was almost a month ago and I still haven't gotten around to blogging about it. What can I say? Life has been a whirlwind lately (not that I'm complaining). 

I missed Melt Your Popsicle last year because it's the same weekend as Moonlight in Vermont. My original plan for this year was to enter Booger in the 100 in Vermont. The wheels fell off the bus when she popped her splint in January. Then I sort of fell out of love with endurance and just haven't been thinking about it. Still, it was bittersweet to be available for the NACMO ride. It turned out to be a kickass day for team What the Foxtrot, and I'm glad I went.

Michele on Mira, me on Lucy, Sarah on Chance, Sierra on Promise.

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.

Sunset Swimmies

 There was a moment in July where I thought I might actually catch up on the blog. That did not happen. 

This post is about a Thursday evening that would make twelve year old me do a cartwheel from sheer joy. 

Chip Goes to Horseshoe Bend

 Last month, I took Chip on his first serious off property trail ride (second formal field trip). It was the first time he'd meet other horses away from home. In fact, there were several first. Baby's first biting bugs. Baby's first time breaking a sweat. Baby's first bridges. Baby's first rocky climb. It was such a good day that I'm still beaming just thinking about it.

Cheesin' so hard! 

Moonlight Escapades

 Sometimes, tragedy strikes and a friend needs a distraction. There's nobody better than horse people to come together at exactly such a time. Besides, we were due for a night ride. This is the story of a random Thursday night.

Nothing to see here.

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.

Green Lane: Camping and NACMO

 The Father's Day NACMO at Green Lane was two weekends ago. This year, I decided to book two nights of camping for extra saddle time. Of course, it turned out to be the hottest week of the year so far, with a real feel well over 100℉. It wound up being a great weekend despite the heat.

HSB With Terra

 Terra and I were overdue to ride together. At the beginning of the month, we finally took care of that. We agreed to meet at Horseshoe Bend for an afternoon ride. We wound up doing 11 miles and it was perfect.

Don't Go Chasing... Thunderstorms

 Me to my boss on a random Friday: How do you feel about me taking a half day for no reason except that I don't want to be here?
My boss: Go for it. You've earned it.
Me immediately after:

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. 

Return to Stephens

 I'm running out of witty ways to start blog posts. (I have written over 2100 blog posts on this site alone, and some days I debate just... not doing it any more. But here we are.) 

I mentioned recently that I've started playing D&D and am loving it. Taylor has been hosting and Hannah has been playing too. This means I've gotten to know both of them better (yay!) So when I found myself with a desire to take Booger for a longer adventure, but without a plan on a Saturday, I reached out to Hannah and Taylor to see if they were riding. 

Chip's First Field Trip

 My goal for the year was to trailer Chip off the property and pony him for a trail ride. This little guy keeps surpassing my expectations. I was certainly not expecting to do this before he was a year old!

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.

Grand Stokes Adventure

 Some rides are more epic than others.

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.

Easter Ride at Baldpate

I mentioned in my April recap that Mike and I photographed No Frills, and that it wasn't the greatest trip we've ever had. I had Sunday afternoon free after we got home, but it was Easter so most people weren't available*. 

I was just saying how I need to do more solo rides away from home, so that's just what I ended up doing. Since I was alone, with nobody to potentially disappoint, I decided to scope out Baldpate Mountain. 

Long time readers may remember that Baldpate was one of my regular stomping grounds back in the day. Unfortunately, a tornado went through in 2021. After that, I went back to Baldpate several times to find that the storm damage was still blocking many of my favorite trails. The last time I went was in the fall of 2023, and the trails were so impassable that we put Baldpate on the do-not-ride list.

On Easter, the weather was beautiful, but my energy was low. I figured that I could at least ride to the view and back if nothing else was cleared. I grabbed Lucy out of the pasture and away we went. 

*It turns out Terra was actually free and wound up riding at Baldpate right before I did! 

It turned out to be a gorgeous ride, and spring was in full bloom!

Solo Ride at HSB

 The day after the NACMO ride, the weather was too gorgeous to resist, with sunny skies and temperatures in the mid sixties. After work, I threw Booger in the trailer and headed to Horseshoe Bend for a solo ride. I rarely haul out to ride by myself, but every time I do, I find myself thinking I should do it more often. (Seriously, how do I become independently wealthy without any effort or connections...?)

Overlooking the river as the sun sinks towards the horizon.